She keeps me warm
by patriciabzjm
Summary: [#MerZona fanfic -english is not my first language, I'm sorry for grammar mistakes and spelling] A slow discovery of love between two people living in a long time disbelief of happiness. Meredith needed to feel jealousy to understand her feelings while Arizona experienced the hurt she caused once. Do their love will grow and remain or they will part after the many barriers ahead?
1. Chapter 1

_Just a small dinner._ That was Meredith's thought when she decided to throw a small dinner party for some of her friends, in order to celebrate her birthday. Meredith wasn't that person, who gets excited for her birthday and enjoys gather all of her friends and celebrate it. But that year, after so many things that happened, she felt like it might be a good change.

She would order some nice food and have Maggie doing some delicious appetizers, buy some fancy wine and that was it: just a pleasant night with some of her friends.

Since she didn't have anymore most of the persons she considered herself close, like Derek, Callie, Cristina, Lexie, George, and Izzie – she just had to rethink her idea of being close to someone. She still had Alex, which was definitely her person now. But she also had Amelia and Maggie, although Amelia still was something harder to deal with.

She had people from the hospital – Miranda, Richard, Jackson, April, Arizona – but now she must rethink her relationship with Owen since he and Amelia aren't in a good place right now. She wasn't close to the residents, although Jo and Alex were back together. She didn't know how she feels about DeLuca since the incident with Karev. She felt like she needed this dinner for recognize the people she wanted close to her again.

Amelia and Maggie were helping her writing an invitation for her to send, even though she thought that was unnecessary.

"Guys, it's not a party, nobody needs a formal invitation. I just need to inform the date, like: hey, Wednesday night, 8 pm, dinner at my place. That's it" – Meredith pointed to her sisters.

"Yeah, yeah. What's the fun in that Mer?" – Amelia said.

"Amelia's right, Mer. You need to rock at this dinner party. How about we just send a 'save the date', like a teaser. Not saying much, but preparing them for what can be" – Maggie suggested.

"Oh! I like that!" – Amelia agreed.

"No, no save the date, no teaser, no rocking on anything. Just an informal email letting people know I'll celebrate my birthday with a dinner at my house. Can you do that?" – Meredith asked them.

Little she knew that her sisters wouldn't let go that easy.

 _Hey, my birthday is coming up. Come celebrate with me at my house next Wednesday, starting 8 pm. – Meredith Grey_

 _(We're sorry for this lame message our sister sent, we wanted to write something way more appealing like: Are you ready to have some fun? Are you ready to celebrate this amazing day with me? So come to my dinner party this Wednesday, starting 8 pm – bring some good wine, put on some good clothes and share a good playlist for us to dance, flirt and enjoy like nobody is on call next morning)_

"They're impossible!" – Meredith said to herself when she received the e-mail.

She was finishing her last notes on some patient's chart and was ready to go home. The past week was insanely busy for her and she definitely needed some good sleep that night.

She was picking her things on the attending's lounge when Alex teased her:

"Who knew party-Meredith was back on?" – Alex said, laughing.

"It's not a party, it's just a birthday dinner. Amelia and Maggie wrote that, not me!" – Meredith answered him.

"Hey, Grey, nice invitation. Can't wait to party like old times!" – Jackson entered the lounge and teased her.

"It's not a party… whatever, this won't stop anyway" – Meredith said almost to herself, leaving the room.

On the corner, packing her things up, Arizona heard all the jokes and felt a little excluded for not being invited to the dinner or the party, like people were saying. She knew her and Meredith weren't exactly friends, but they knew each other for a very long time, and it felt weird to be left out when they were not exactly the largest group of friends on that hospital. Callie left to NY, she let Sofia go with her, she wasn't the 'bad guy' on that, so she didn't understand why Meredith wouldn't invite her.

The next day started oddly quiet and Meredith had a bad feeling about it. It was her birthday, she spent a lot of time buying things for the dinner tonight and they all knew that easy days generally mean massive tragedies soon enough. She had all things set up: her favorite babysitter, the next day off, food ordered since she couldn't handle cooking to so many people and the perfect amount of wine she needed to make her birthday a great day, instead of a sad memory of people she missed.

Just like she sensed it, a massive fairy accident brought many victims to the hospital. Most of them were non-critical but all that atmosphere of desperate and terror was hard enough. A 39-years-old pregnant woman was almost dead at the accident and Arizona had to go all the way there to try to save her so she would make it to the hospital, at least. Trying everything she knew and could, Arizona was fighting hard to save the woman, but she was stuck under a crashed car. It would take a long time until the rescue could get her out of there and she didn't have this time. Arizona, however, was having a difficult time by herself, she needed an extra set of hands to stop the bleedings the woman had.

"Robbins, how are things in there?" – Bailey said, answering her call.

"Not good, Chief. I really need someone else here with me. She's stuck, she's not gonna make it if we don't get her out of here soon" – Arizona informed her.

"Do you need a specific resident? Or attending?" – Miranda asked her.

"Can you come over? I need a general or trauma surgeon here. A resident won't be able to handle it" – Arizona said and her voice sounded tired, she was having a lot of trouble doing that by herself.

"The ER is a mess Robbins, I can't leave. I'll send you someone right away" – Miranda said and hung up.

Meredith listened to the conversation and offered herself to go there.

"Chief, I can go there if you want me to. All the cases here are handled already and I don't have any surgeries so far. I can help Robbins"

"Great, you go there then. Take as many supplies you can, she's having a hard time there, Grey, you two may need to perform some miracles over there." – Bailey said and Meredith left quickly to the supply room.

Less than 20 minutes after the call, Meredith arrived at the accident to help Arizona.

"Hey, Bailey sent me here. How can I help? I brought a bunch of supplies from the hospital" – Meredith said.

"Oh, thank God. I'm already out of gauze and she needs more morphine. The baby is in a serious distress" – Arizona informed her.

"Ok, here it is. How about the arm? Can we save it?" – Meredith asked, noticing the woman had her right arm under the car.

"I did my best but she doesn't have much time left. I've managed to intubate her before her lungs collapsed but she probably had some head injuries too. I'm afraid she'll herniate soon if we don't relieve the pressure on her body. Do you think you can control the bleeding over here?" – Arizona said, pointing to an iron bar stuck into the woman's ribs.

"Oh my God, poor woman. Was she conscious when you arrived?" – Meredith asked Arizona.

"She was barely conscious. I had to sedate her, she was moving in desperation and she would hurt herself even more." – Arizona explained.

"She's receiving enough oxygen and that's already a miracle, I can't imagine how'd you intubate her by yourself! This bleeding won't stop easily, though" – Meredith said, amazed by how Arizona managed to control the situation better than anyone would, considering the limitations.

"I had no option, actually. I'm worried about the baby now, she's 9 months far, she can be in labor in any minute" – Arizona pointed, worried.

"I put a tampon here, but we need to turn her to this side, her blood circulation won't last in that position. Can't rescue cut at least this side of the car? Or whatever's left of it" – Meredith asked.

"They can't, if they move it, she'll die immediately. We need to take this bar out of her, and probably cut her arm, so we can get her out of here in time" – Arizona said, very uncomfortable. Amputations always mess with her.

"I'm sorry. Are you ok? I can ask Bailey to send someone here to do it with me" – Meredith asked her, realizing how difficult it must be for her to cut someone's limb.

"No, that's ok, I can do it. I mean, we can do it, together. But I think we need to remove this bar first, I don't wanna cut her arm until the last minute we must to, she already lost a lot of blood, she's in a high risk of infection right now." – Arizona said to Meredith.

"I agree. Let's start with the bar. Can you see the end of it? There's so many blood in here, Gosh… " – Meredith was shocked by how this woman was still alive.

"It's inside of her, I checked her back before intubating, the bar didn't exit the body and that can be either very good or very bad" – Arizona said, worried.

"It means it can be very close to her heart, then" – Meredith recognized.

"Yes, that's why I'm afraid. But do we have another choice?" – Arizona asked.

"I don't think so. Let's do it, we don't have much time left" – Meredith said and immediately started to enlarge the incision with a scalp.

"I gave her another dose of antibiotics, just in case. Where do you want me?" - Arizona asked.

"By my side, praying that I don't screw your miracle up" – Meredith quipped, making Arizona smile.

"You're not gonna screw anything up. I'm ready, whenever the bar's out, I'll make pressure on the bleeding" – Arizona said.

Meredith carefully pulled the bar out of the woman's ribs, but her blood pressure started to drop quickly and the doctors were worried.

"Damn it, she's losing a lot of blood, we need to get her out of here now" – Meredith said.

"I gave her another blood unit, I'm on the bleeding now, I think I've found the major one. We need to cut her arm now." – Arizona said, with her hand inside of the wound.

"Ok, let's do it. Do you have more betadine there? Mine's over already, damn it" – Meredith said.

"Yes, inside my bag, there's a lot of them in there" – Arizona said.

Meredith soaked the woman's arm with betadine in order to clean as much as possible the area before she makes the cut. She took the saw and Arizona looked away, seeing that was hard for her. Suddenly the fetal monitor started to show a dropping heartbeat.

"Damn it, she's in labor, we need to hurry up!" – Arizona said.

Meredith focused even more and made a clean cut and quickly wrapped the woman's limb to control the bleeding, then went back to Arizona's side to help her pull out the woman from under the car.

"Ok, she's out now, can somebody bring us a gurney?" – Arizona shouted to the rescue team that was watching them amazed.

They took the woman to the hospital alive and with her baby safe and sound; ready to get delivered in a clean hospital. They both scrubbed in to operate on her. Arizona performed the baby's birth with no complications and immediately checked on the baby's vitals.

"Mer, I need to get him up to the NICU, do you need help with her?" – Arizona asked.

"No, I'm good, thank you. Go save this baby!" – Meredith said, smiling.

When Arizona was leaving the OR, Meredith called her name.

"Arizona!" – Meredith shouted and Arizona turned around to face the woman – "You save her life, you actually were a miracle worker there." – Meredith said to her, smiling.

Arizona smiled to her and left the OR with the baby on the incubator. After cleaning his airways and give him all the medications he needed, Arizona felt relieved that both mom and son made it.

Meredith was also relieved, even though the woman was still in a critical condition, she was alive, already breathing on her own and recovering at the ICU. The night would be rough to her, but if she survived the next 24 hours, she would have good chances to recover 100%.

At the attending's lounge, Meredith sat down on the couch exhausted after the long surgery. Arizona entered it, taking off her scrub cap and sitting down on the armchair in front of the couch.

"We did it" – Arizona said to Meredith.

"Yes, we did. You did most of it, actually" – Meredith said.

"We did it, Mer, together. Without you, she would've died in there. Thank you for your help" – Arizona said and immediately remembered that today was Meredith's birthday – "Oh, and happy birthday!" – she said, smiling.

"Thanks, I hope you're not too tired to come to the dinner later" – Meredith said and noticed an awkward look on the blonde's face. – "What? Are you not coming? Even just for a little bit?"

"I wasn't invited, actually. I heard people talking about it, but you didn't invite me" – Arizona said, playfully.

"What do you mean? Of course, you're invited! Amelia and Maggie sent an email, did you check your inbox?" – Meredith said, embarrassed.

"That's ok Mer, I understand it. It's not a big deal, don't worry! I really wish you have a happy birthday after this long day" – Arizona said.

"What are you saying? I'm sure it was a technology bug, you're invited! You're more than invited, your presence is requested there!" – Meredith said, smiling.

"It's ok, you don't have to invite me, it's your dinner, it's your birthday, I understand" – Arizona stated and was being honest with her.

"What do you understand? I'm the one lost here, why wouldn't I invite you to my birthday? You're one of the oldest friends I have in here" – Meredith pointed, confused.

"We know each other for a long time, but we're not close, and you're Callie's friend, so I get it, it's not a big deal, I mean it!" – Arizona explained.

"Well, I would love to get closer, then, because I consider you my friend already. That isn't Callie's business, anyway. We're friends. Would you come to my dinner tonight, as my friend? Please?" – Meredith asked her.

"Ok, then. I will." – Arizona said, smiling.

Arizona had a thing for Meredith, that she never let it become more than a weird feeling that appears sometimes. She knew Meredith was straight and more than that, she was Callie's friend. She had a few erotic dreams about Meredith since her attack last year, and she couldn't explain the connection between the events, but ever since this attack, she became more concerned about Meredith and tried to help as much as she could with the kids and the natural loneliness the other woman would feel eventually, without dating anybody or without her closest friends around her, especially with everything that happened with Alex and DeLuca, things were a little hard on Meredith.

But she knew that it was some irrational feeling and nothing more than a pleasant sight inside the hospital. Meredith was a gorgeous woman and she was an amazing and strong person, dealing with so many tragedies in her life and still being one of the best doctors and a hell of a mother to her three kids. She was something to admire and, well, have a little crazy crush on.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, people were starting to show up in Meredith's house. Talking with Maggie and Amelia at the kitchen, Meredith suddenly remembered the incident of Arizona not getting invited to the dinner. Since they were the responsible for sending the emails, she wondered if her sisters didn't like Arizona.

"Guys, why didn't you invite Arizona?" – Meredith asked, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

"Uhm, did you want us to invite her?" – Maggie asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" – Meredith was intrigued.

"Well, Mer, we love Robbins, I thought you had problems with her, since the custody episode and all of that. I mean, Callie is your friend, right?" – Amelia explained.

"Yes, but Callie isn't my only friend, Arizona's also my friend and she's here. She had been so helpful since the attack, and she's a lovely person. I invited her today, I just wanted to understand if you guys had a problem with her being her" – Meredith stated.

"Not at all, she's great, we just didn't want to invite someone that could make you uncomfortable, but it's good that isn't the case, then" – Maggie replied.

"Yeah, well, but we should definitely consider some residents next time, Cross is all over me. And not in a nice way" – Amelia laughed.

Arizona arrived a little after 9 pm, and the guests were a bit tipsy already.

Amelia answered the door, trying to avoid Cross' flirt moves on her.

"Oh thank God, someone I like!" – Amelia said to Arizona and hugging her, who smiled at Amelia.

"Oh… thank you, I guess?" – Arizona said – "I brought some wine, should I take to the kitchen?"

"I don't work on alcohol department, Robbins, please, give it to Meredith before I second-guess my sobriety" – Amelia quipped.

Arizona entered the kitchen to find Meredith and gave her the wine.

"Wow, that's good stuff, maybe I'll save for my lonely days instead" – Meredith laughed and thanked Arizona.

They went to the living room and drank some wine, had conversations with the other guests. Arizona was talking almost all the time with Amelia, that needed someone to help her avoiding Cross, so the blonde was glad to help, but the mix of tiredness and wine quickly made her a little tipsy.

It was already a bit late when Wilson and Murphy arrived there. It had been a long time since Arizona and Murphy had anything, and they have worked together in a few cases ever since, so her presence didn't really bother Arizona. The thing is: Murphy was already drunk when she arrived and was being a little inappropriate.

"Arizona Robbins, the medicine Goddess!" – Murphy said, laughing and making everyone look at each other a little confused.

"Murphy, how about a glass of water?" – Amelia offered.

Arizona was starting to get drunker than she should too, so she tried to escape that situation and went hiding in the kitchen.

"Where is Robbins? She ran away! What is new, right?" – Murphy kept laughing and Meredith started to regret that dinner party.

"Leah, stop it, it's not cool what you're doing now" – Wilson asked her friend, realizing that she was out of control and being unpleasant.

"Stop what, Jo? I'm just saying the truth. Dr. Robbins is the master of running away and letting people behind. All she needs to do is cheat on her wife and use people afterwards!" – Murphy continued and this time Arizona lost her temper.

"What the hell, Murphy? Why are you attacking me out of nothing?" – Arizona said, entering the living room again.

"I'm not attacking you, Arizona. I'm just saying that you left me, you left your wife, you leave everyone when you're done with them. I'm just wondering who's next on the Robbins Leaving Show!" – Murphy was completely drunk and sounded more and more angry at each sentence.

"Shut up, Leah. You don't know what you're talking about!" – Arizona answered angrily.

"Ok, enough guys, Murphy why don't you go home now? Arizona, come with me, please?" – Meredith said, grabbing Arizona's arm and leading her upstairs.

Amelia and Maggie started to clean things to show people that the party was over. Alex helped them and seemed angry at Jo for bringing Murphy already that drunk to the party. Jackson and April left with Richard, while Miranda tried to put Cross and other 2 residents on a cab to go home. The next day would be a disaster with hangovers and awkwardness among the staff.

"Alex, I think it's better if I take Leah home, she's pretty drunk" – Jo said to her boyfriend, noticing his frown.

"Yeah, you better finish the job you've started tonight" – He answered, pretty mad.

"I didn't know she was going to make a scene, she doesn't even talk about Robbins anymore!" – Jo answered.

"She already got here wasted, how can you not notice that, Jo? The party was good until she got here" – Alex said, not looking to her.

"She was drunk, not crazy. Robbins is pretty drunk herself, nobody here is in a good shape, to be honest" – Jo tried to justify.

"Well, Robbins didn't say a bunch of crap to anyone, so, I guess it's not a competition after all" – He said and left Jo alone.

In Meredith's bedroom, Arizona was angry complaining about Murphy and everything that just happened. She refused to let Meredith take away her glass of wine.

"Where's your tequila? Aren't you best friends with it?" – Arizona asked Meredith.

"I guess you're done with alcohol tonight, Arizona. How about water instead?" – Meredith suggested.

"Oh, great. You also think I'm this huge cheating mess like Murphy said" – Arizona was acting childish.

"I don't think anything like that, I don't understand where that came from, actually. But I care about you enough to know that tequila won't do you any good now" – Meredith was trying to be friendly.

"You don't have to pretend that you like me, Meredith. We all know I'm a cheater, and that I don't deserve love or friends. I'm just this hideous one-legged woman, whose daughter live across the country, with absolutely no one in her life, that is drunk at a dinner party I wasn't even invited to! How pathetic I am, right?" – Arizona was quipping about herself, making Meredith feel sad about it.

"Well, from where I see you, I think you're this badass woman who survived a tragedy and still is the strongest, brightest and most positive person I know, who is kind and joyful and the greatest mom, that care so much about her daughter that let her travel across the country with her other mom in order to be happier. And that was invited here, and that made me happy with her presence. I'm your friend, like it or not. You have people in your life, you're not pathetic" – Meredith said, holding Arizona's hand.

Suddenly some mixed feelings took care of Arizona's mind and heart and she felt the urge of proving that she could be that person that Meredith had described. Looking deep into Meredith's eyes, she leaned forward and kissed Meredith on the lips, with one hand on her cheek and the other one still being held by Meredith. Those few seconds of impulsive behavior ended with Arizona's outbreak of consciousness.

"Oh my God. I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry, Meredith, I don't know why I did this" – Arizona was really embarrassed and it almost seemed like she was suddenly sober.

"That's ok, I'm flattered. You're the most disputed single person from the hospital, I didn't think I would have the chance someday" – Meredith joked, laughing, trying to vanish the awkwardness of that situation.

Handing her a few ibuprofen and a glass of water, Meredith tried to calm Arizona about all that happened that night.

"Why don't you take these pills and change into comfortable clothes and get some sleep? It's late and you can't drive like this." – Meredith suggested.

"No, I need to go home, I'm so embarrassed. Is Alex still here? He can give me a ride home" – Arizona said, not being able to look into Meredith's face, ashamed.

"You're not leaving, Arizona. You're going to sleep in here, and tomorrow you deal with the hangover. Right now, the best you can do for your own good is taking these pills and some water. Everything's fine, ok? Don't feel bad about anything. Murphy is kind of an idiot, forget about what she said." – Meredith said, holding Arizona's hand and kissing her on the cheek.

Meredith left the bedroom to see how things were downstairs, and so that Arizona could change her clothes and be comfortable. She knew that the prosthetic could be an issue for Arizona if she was there, looking at it. Meredith felt fine with the kissing episode, she knew that was just the exaggerated amount of alcohol and that Arizona just felt good about what Meredith said to her. She wasn't offended at all, and she actually thought it was a good memory for them. She never thought about dating women, and especially after Derek's death, she didn't think about dating anyone. But who knows? The kiss was good, maybe women could be easier to deal with than men or maybe she was a bit drunk herself and needed to forget about these kind of thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

She went downstairs and noticed that her sisters took care of everything. Alex was still there, kind of worried about Arizona.

"How is she? Really mad, really sad or both?" – Alex asked Meredith.

"My God, what was that? Murphy is a kind of a lunatic!" – Amelia said, laughing.

"She's fine, she's feeling down and I think she feels lonely like she doesn't have any friends left. But I bet tomorrow all she's going to feel is a hangover. I gave her ibuprofen and she's sleeping now" – Meredith said, calmly.

"Where's she sleeping? She can use my room if she wants to" – Amelia offered.

"She's in mine, that's ok, I can sleep here on the couch" – Meredith said.

"Why don't you sleep there with her? It's a giant bed, and she probably can use some help in the middle of the night because of her leg, right?" – Maggie suggested and suddenly Meredith felt confused if that could cause some weirdness for them.

"Yeah, Mer, she has to take out the leg or she will be in pain tomorrow. And she doesn't have any crutches here, it'll be better if someone stays with her tonight" – Alex said.

"Yeah, sure, I'll sleep with her" – Meredith agreed, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

However, Amelia noticed that her sister seemed uncomfortable with this request and asked her to follow her to the kitchen to help organizing what was left of the party.

"Hey, are you ok with this?" – Amelia asked her.

"Ok with what?" – Meredith seemed confused.

"You look uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping in the same bed with Arizona. Is because of the leg thing" – Amelia asked, more clearly this time.

"No, of course not Amelia. Why do you even think that of me?" – Meredith said, intrigued.

"I don't know, you seemed very helpful and suddenly had this look on your face. I'm just saying if you're not comfortable I can sleep with her" – Amelia suggested.

"It's not that. I'm not uncomfortable. It's just…." – Meredith didn't finish her sentence.

"Just what?" – Amelia asked.

"She kind of kissed me. Before. When I took her to my room she was feeling down and I said some cheerful things to her and I don't know, she just kissed me and she felt ashamed." – Meredith told her.

"No way! Who knew Robbins had a crush on you, sis!" – Amelia quipped, enjoying the scene.

"She doesn't have a crush on me. She just felt good about what I said, she was really drunk. I'm just thinking if maybe I'll make her feel uncomfortable by sharing the bed, that's all" – Meredith explained.

"Well, I believe she'll be more disappointed if she wakes up with me sleeping next to her and not you because then she will believe you were unhappy about the kiss thing" – Amelia pointed out to Meredith who was reflecting about it. – "Did you enjoy the kiss?" – Amelia laughed.

"Stop it" – Meredith asked her.

"What? I'm just asking. Robbins is HOT. I would like to kiss her" – Amelia stated.

"Since when do you date women?" – Meredith asked, intrigued and slightly jealous.

"I'm not saying I wanted to date her, I said I would like to kiss her. She's hot, Mer. But anyway, I would date her too, if she wanted. She's a good catch, you know?" – Amelia quipped.

"She's my friend, that's all. I don't date women, anyway" – Meredith said, organizing some leftovers from the dinner.

"It's never late to start it then. And believe me, if you decide to join the dating women thing, there is no one better than Robbins to start of with, right?" – Amelia said, smiling.

"Why do you say that?" – Meredith suddenly seemed very interested in what Amelia was saying about Arizona.

"Because she is gorgeous, she is freaking smart, she is ridiculously good looking and she has a long record of breaking hearts all over America. I mean, she does have this charm, you know? Man, I would be lesbian for Robbins" – Amelia stated and Meredith was now clearly uncomfortable with that.

"You're being silly, no one is dating Robbins." – Meredith said, coldly.

"Well, well, well, do I see a bit of jealousy here, sis?" – Amelia quipped noticing Meredith being possessive.

"Shut up, let's go to sleep before you decide to be an official lesbian" – Meredith said, leaving the kitchen.

Amelia was there laughing about it. She never imagined Meredith dating women but now this scenario not only seemed possible but also seemed pleasant. Meredith was feeling insecure about dating people, she couldn't stop thinking that she would carry the weight of being a widow forever, and Amelia thought that maybe someone close and sensitive like Arizona could be the best person to make Meredith happy again.

Meanwhile, Meredith went upstairs and quietly entered her bedroom, trying not to make any noise and wake Arizona up. The blonde was sleeping beautifully and although the room was a bit chilly, she didn't have any sheets covering her. Meredith slowly covered her with the duvet that was in her bed and kept admiring her for a few minutes. Then, slowly, she lay down beside Arizona and fell asleep.

Before the sun rises, Arizona woke up feeling nauseous and took her a few seconds to realize where she was. As soon as she saw Meredith sleeping next to her, she remembered the kiss from last night and Meredith's words to her and felt even more embarrassed. She put her prosthetic on and picked up her clothes on the floor, left the room quietly and went to the other bathroom down the hall. She changed into her clothes and left the house as fast as she could. She was feeling embarrassed to even look into Meredith's eyes again, let alone wake up in the same bed with her. She felt like wanting to die.

She arrived home and couldn't bear to begin her day. She needed to be at the hospital soon and all she could think of was the damn kiss. She didn't even remember Murphy and all of that unnecessary scene she made, but the kiss? Kissing Meredith wasn't a thing she could just forget.

She took a shower and a large cup of coffee and headed to the hospital.

After being stuck on Peds ward all day and praying every hour not to see anyone, the morning was suddenly gone and she was feeling just a little bit better. At least she didn't have to face Meredith so far. Just as fast as she thought of that, Amelia appeared in front of her.

"Robbins!" – Amelia called her out.

"Yes" – Arizona answered with a fake smile and wide opened eyes like she was having just a normal day.

"I just wanted to know if you're ok? I didn't see you leaving this morning" – Amelia asked her and Arizona couldn't tell if she was referring to Murphy, the hangover or the damn kiss.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a small hangover, as expected." – Arizona answered, and Amelia didn't believe a word she said.

"Look, you know Murphy was completely wasted and out of line, right? Don't feel bad about that. Or anything, actually." – Amelia said and winked at her, leaving Arizona unsure of what she meant by 'anything'.

She knew the kiss thing was too much and that telling people about it was a possibility she could have to deal with, but deep down she was hoping Meredith could forget about it and not telling people, making Arizona look like a needy perverted who can't keep her hands away from any woman. She now was hoping that Amelia could keep it between them, at least.

The day ended and Arizona was nothing but relieved. She didn't see Meredith or Murphy, and that, itself, was a victory.

Tomorrow would be a new day and she still would have almost eight hours until she becomes worried about that crazy night in Meredith's house.

Meanwhile, Meredith finished put the kids in bed when Amelia arrived.

"Hey, how was today? Any rumors about Murphy?" – Meredith asked her.

"I don't think she worked today, haven't seen her all day. I saw Robbins, though" – Amelia said and headed upstairs, leaving Meredith alone and curious.

Following her sister, Meredith stopped by Amelia's door to continue the talk.

"Did you say something to her? Amelia, you wouldn't do that, would you?" – Meredith sounded really worried and Amelia was definitely doubting if it was just her concern about Arizona, it started to sound like a slight fear of ruining any chance with the blonde.

"Relax, sis. Of course I didn't say anything. I just asked how was she and told her she shouldn't feel bad about Murphy, or anything" – Amelia said, while she was getting undressed.

"And how was she?" – Meredith asked.

"She said she was fine, but she didn't look fine. She looked ashamed" – Amelia said, and before Meredith could speak, she continued – "Maybe you should talk to her, you know? Assure her that things are fine between you two"

"I already said it yesterday, things are fine" – Meredith affirmed.

"Yesterday she felt like kissing you and she was drunk. I bet she barely remember you saying anything after that" – Amelia quipped.

"I think bringing that up would only make her feel more uncomfortable. Nothing happened, we should forget it already" – Meredith was sounding rough.

"Ok, whatever. You're the one who asked about her" – Amelia said and left to take a shower.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning started with a massive shooting in a restaurant, making the hospital prepare for a lot of victims in a short time.

Arizona headed down to the pit to help with the victims and bumped into Meredith at the emergency entrance, waiting for the ambulance.

"Hey, how are you?" – Meredith asked and immediately she could tell Arizona was embarrassed.

"Fine and you? Waiting for another victim?" – Arizona said trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, they will keep coming today" – Meredith replied, feeling a little embarrassed too.

The awkward silence remained for long seconds hoping the ambulance could drag the doctors into another reality where they could forget about everything else. Unfortunately, the timing wasn't that friendly for them and they've decided to talk at the same time.

"So, I think Murphy… " – Meredith started, but stopped, hearing Arizona speaking at the same time.

"Look, Mer, I think we must talk about…."

They laughed and Meredith waited for her to finish the sentence.

"I said that we must talk about what happened. I mean, I need to apologize to you, again" – Arizona said with an honest sad face.

"Arizona you don't need to apologize, at all. I mean it. Things are completely fine between us, ok? What I was going to say is that Murphy was out of line that night, and nothing she said is true. Don't let her words bring you down, ok?" – Meredith said, making Arizona smile and thank her.

Right on that moment two ambulances arrived and the doctors went straight to them and that scene repeated itself the whole day, with victims from the shooting. Arizona was feeling better until she crossed paths with Murphy exiting an OR.

"Dr. Robbins, I-I…" – Murphy tried to talk but Arizona cut her.

"Don't, Murphy. I think it's better if we don't talk to each other unless it's a medical issue" – Arizona said and left Murphy with her unspoken words.

While changing into her regular clothes after her shift ended, Arizona was trying hard to leave the hospital quickly. Meredith, Maggie, Amelia, and April entered the attending's lounge laughing over something and spotted Arizona.

"Hey, we're heading out to Joe's to have a drink, would you join us?" – Meredith asked Arizona, that felt even weirder than she felt that morning. Somehow Meredith went from being an imaginary crush to someone Arizona wanted to run and hide from.

"Oh, thanks, I can't tonight, maybe some other time?" – Arizona said and left in a hurry, so they wouldn't ask her why she couldn't.

The four women were having a great time at Joe's and April was really happy to have a night off since Jackson was looking after Harriet. She needed to improve her social life again, and these days, Maggie, Amelia and Meredith seemed the right companionship for that.

"We should do this more often. I really needed to see other people besides the men from that hospital!" – Maggie exclaimed.

"Yeah, tell me about it! Even though I haven't noticed anyone really interesting in here so far" – Amelia quipped and suddenly Joe delivered her a little napkin folded.

"What is it? Did someone send you a flirt note?" – April asked, excited.

"Open it already!" – Meredith and Maggie said almost at the same time.

 _You probably are the most interesting woman in this bar and even though I see you once and a while, I still can't figure it out what you're drinking. Maybe would you join me and tell me your secret? Xoxo – Molly._

"Wow! Is Molly a girl? Oh, my God, some woman has a girl crush on you, Amelia!" – April exclaimed while Meredith suddenly stopped smiling.

"Oh my God, that was unexpected! Who do you think she is?" – Amelia said, laughing.

"There's a real hot woman on the table on your right looking at us. Red top, pretty eyes" – Maggie said, not being really discreet about it.

"Why do you want to know who she is Amelia? Are you going to talk to her?" – Meredith sounded serious but trying not to be rude.

"Well, who knows? If she's hot, why not, right?" – Amelia quipped.

"I think you should go for it! Like, men are so overrated right now!" – April said, a little tipsy – "Oh my God Amelia, maybe if you're into girls now you can ask Arizona out! She should really have a good date in her life, I can't even stand the women she dated lately!" - April suggested and Meredith couldn't disguise her dissatisfaction with the subject.

"Guys, c'mon, we should leave Arizona out of that. She had already plenty people talking about her life now" – Meredith said and Maggie looked at her suspiciously.

"But I meant it in a good way. Wouldn't you enjoy having Arizona as your sister-in-law, Mer?" – April asked.

"Yeah, Mer, wouldn't you like that?" – Amelia insisted, knowing her sister was upset with something and she wanted to find out what was it.

"I would if I had some gay sister, which so far I'm not aware of" – Meredith said and put her money on the bar and picked up her purse indicating she was leaving – "I'm going, guys, I really need some sleep"

"Already? Wait just a little bit more, let us just find out who is Amelia's secret admirer!" – April begged.

"I'll leave that for you, you can tell me tomorrow. Good night ladies" – Meredith said and left the bar, leaving Maggie intrigued about her sister's reaction.

Maggie decided to go after her to check if she was fine. Meredith was the one who wanted to have drinks and suddenly decided to leave over some girl talking. She knew her sister didn't have any problems with people being gay, so that wasn't the issue there.

"Mer, hey, are you ok?" – Maggie asked her before she entered in her car.

"I'm fine, I just need some sleep, it's getting late" – Meredith said a little impatient.

"Did something happen? Why were you so stern about this so-called girl crush?" – Maggie asked, referring to the note Amelia received, but Meredith associated immediately with Arizona.

"I'm not stern, I just don't think is ok for us to keep talking about Arizona like she was a piece of meat in a market" – Meredith said, slightly angry.

"I was talking about the bar crush, from the note…? Wait, why do you think we were talking about Arizona that way?" – Maggie asked, confused – "I think it was kind of cute April's suggestion about Amelia and Robbins"

"Amelia isn't gay, Maggie. It's not fair putting Arizona in that situation after everything she went through" – Meredith said realizing her sister was starting to notice something weird about that conversation.

"I didn't think of you as this kind of 'label person', to be honest" – Maggie pointed.

"I'm not, I-I just… I just think Amelia should be alone for a while, taking care of herself. And Arizona should find someone good for her." – Meredith tried to end the conversation.

"Mer, is there something happening between you and Arizona?" – Maggie asked her, with a slight smile on her face.

"What? No! Why are you asking me that?" – Meredith answered angrily.

"Well, first you suddenly seem bothered with April's suggestion, now you're talking about Arizona finding someone good, as you two were close enough for you to say something about this matter. I don't know, I thought that maybe could be something in there" – Maggie explained and quickly added – "Which I was going to love, by the way. You two would make a great couple!"

"Maggie, I gotta go now" – Meredith didn't answer her and left.

Maggie was suspicious of something, but the truth was that Meredith didn't even understand why she acted like this. She didn't have those kinds of feelings for Arizona, but since the kiss, better said, the minutes before the kiss, when Arizona said a lot of bullshit about herself, Meredith felt the urge of taking care of her, and somehow that ended in a clumsy – yet great – kiss. She should be more aware from now on not to sound like she has feelings for Arizona. She just cares for her friend, that's it.


	5. Chapter 5

A few weeks have passed by now and Arizona was mastering the art of avoiding Meredith as much as possible. Every time Meredith entered the attending's lounge, Arizona left the room. The same happened in the cafeteria, coffee cart and even at the parking lot, when Arizona clearly pretended to have forgotten something in her car, so she didn't have to enter the hospital with Meredith one day they've arrived at the same time.

If that wasn't weird enough, Arizona didn't seem to do that with other people, like Amelia or Maggie. But especially Amelia, whom she often had lunch with at the hospital. Meredith was wondering if April had said something to Arizona about her crazy idea of pairing her and Amelia. Was that jealousy? Or just being worry about a friend?

She couldn't tell the difference if she was being honest, but the fact that Arizona was avoiding her was driving her crazy. She spotted Arizona leaving the OR at the end of the day and took advantage of that situation to approach the blonde.

"Hey you, stranger. Haven't seen you much these days" – Meredith said, smiling.

"Yeah, busy schedules this week. Do you need a consult or something?" – Arizona asked her, trying to be polite despite her awkwardness.

"Not really. Are you avoiding me?" – Meredith asked her.

"What? No! I'm not" – Arizona was caught off guard with that question, and disguised by pretending to find that funny.

"You are, and now you're acting weird about it" – Meredith affirmed, still smiling at Arizona.

"What are you talking about? I have been busy, that's all." – Arizona said and was saved by her page that went off with a 911 from one of her patients – "Sorry, gotta get this one!"

Now Meredith was sure that she's been avoided by Arizona, she just couldn't understand why. The kiss happened weeks ago, there shouldn't be anymore awkwardness between them and for it was worth, Meredith was the one caught off guard with that kiss and she didn't acted weird over it, so why was Arizona doing that?

The more Meredith thought about it, the more she was becoming obsessed over the possible reasons behind it. At the same time, she needed to remind herself over and over that Arizona was just a friend she cares about, nothing more.

The next day Meredith was lunching with Amelia at the cafeteria and spotted Arizona having lunch with some woman she didn't know.

"Who is that?" – Meredith asked Amelia, pointing to the woman on the table with Arizona.

"She's a hematologist, I think. She's hot, isn't she?" – Amelia said.

"Are they dating?" – Meredith seemed unhappy about it.

"I think so, I mean, they went out for drinks at Joe the other night, don't know how it ended, but it seems fine now" – Amelia said, observing the two women laughing and clearly having a good time.

"Doesn't she look too young? Like, is she old enough to be a doctor?" – Meredith was having a jealousy crisis.

"She's young and hot, what's wrong with that Mer?" – Amelia asked, now bothered with the fact that her sister was acting childish over something she insisted on being nothing.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just saying… she doesn't look like someone interesting for Arizona, that's all" – Meredith explained, having a bite of her tuna sandwich.

"Ok, you're not fooling anyone, you know that, right?" – Amelia said, serious.

"What do you mean?" – Meredith asked, confused.

"Mer, you're jealous of her. Do you have feelings for Arizona?" – Amelia asked, keeping her voice down so nobody could listen to what she said.

"Amelia, stop asking me that, you know I care about her as a friend, I've already told you, I'm not into women." – Meredith stated, trying to smile a bit so that wouldn't look so crazy.

"Bullshit, Mer. We all care about Arizona as friends, you're acting like you feel something more, and that's ok if you don't know exactly what it is or how to deal with it, but either you admit it and deal with consequences or you let her go and just be happy for her. She's seeing someone, she seems excited about it. So drop it. Or go after her. You choose." – Amelia said that and left the table, leaving Meredith alone to think.

 _Amelia is out of her mind. There's nothing to choose here._ She kept thinking and repeating that to herself. That wasn't mixed feelings, it couldn't be. She was straight, she has been married with three children, for God's sake. Why couldn't she have an opinion about a friend's so-called date? Why couldn't she just be a caring friend?

Even though she tried hard to believe in that, seeing Arizona laughing with the woman was making her feel nauseous. And yes, the other doctor was hot and younger than her, she wasn't a surgeon – and somehow that could mean a better thing for Arizona, with an easier schedule than her own – and she was probably fun. Arizona couldn't stop laughing all the time. Meredith started to feel angry, she wasn't as fun as this hot doctor, wasn't she?

 _Damn it! I need to be more fun._ Meredith's thought was interrupted by Alex, who sat next to her.

"Is everything ok? You seem distant" – Alex asked Meredith.

"Have you met Robbins' girlfriend yet?" – Meredith asked him, without answering his question.

"Yeah, they were at Joe's the other night, she seems nice" – He said while was eating his sandwich.

"They're, like, official now?" – Meredith asked and couldn't stop staring at them.

"I guess, why?" – Alex asked her and since she didn't answer it, he ordered – "Quit staring, creepy"

"Well, I hope she's great to Robbins. I have to go now" – Meredith said smiling and left.

That was the fakest sentence she said lately. Arizona was dating someone she didn't know anything about and now she was feeling that weird sensation of hating someone before even knowing her. That didn't make any sense.

At the end of the day, Meredith came across Arizona on the elevator, and the blonde almost second-guessed entering it when she saw Meredith, but she knew it would be extremely rude, so she just smiled and greeted her.

"So I heard you have a girlfriend" – Meredith said, with a smile on her face that didn't look natural.

"What?" – Arizona felt weird and pretended not to understand the question.

"You're dating the hot doctor, right?" – Meredith asked her, without looking directly at Arizona.

"We're getting to know each other these past days" – Arizona wanted to dig a hole on the elevator and hide from that conversation.

"Are you happy?" – Meredith asked her.

"What do you mean?" – Arizona wasn't following where this conversation was going.

"With her, I mean, are you happy with her? Does she make you feel happy?" – Meredith asked and now she was looking into Arizona's eyes.

"I said we're still getting to know each other, it's kind of early to that. Why are you asking me that?" – Arizona asked Meredith, feeling interrogated by someone she didn't owe anything.

Pulling the stop button, Meredith stopped the elevator so nobody else would enter nor they would leave it.

"I mean, you kissed me, then you sneaked out of my house, then you're avoiding me for weeks and now you're dating someone, so I just wanted to make sure you're happy, because it seems that I'm no longer in the position of knowing things about your life" – Meredith said, walking closer towards Arizona.

"I said I'm not avoiding you, Meredith, I was busy, that's all" – Arizona was being evasive.

"Bullshit, and you know that. That's what intrigues me the most. You're avoiding me and I can't figure it out why" – Meredith said, now just a few inches away from the blonde, whose heart was beating faster than usual.

"I was embarrassed, ok? There. I was embarrassed about kissing you that night, I don't know why I did it and I felt weird every time you talked to me" – Arizona confessed, nervous about how close they were right now.

"I said you shouldn't feel weird about that, it wasn't a bad thing" – Meredith said, looking deep into Arizona's blue eyes.

"Of course it was, Meredith. We're friends, right? Friends don't make out. Especially straight friend with lesbian friend. I was drunk and completely out of line and I couldn't help feeling bad over it." – Arizona explained.

"It seems to me that label is a big deal for you, then" – Meredith said, not moving an inch closer or further.

"What do you mean by that?" – Arizona was lost now.

"Well, since I don't have the gay label, I'm not cut out for being a good kiss, just a mistake that you should avoid" – Meredith said and now she was feeling her heart skip a beat too, she was definitely nervous and confused about what she was feeling.

"You know what, Mer? I'm not gonna play this game. I already apologized to you several times. I really don't feel comfortable being questioned like that. I guess that only proves the kiss was a mistake indeed" – Arizona said and pressed the button, make the elevator opens its doors, so she left.

Meredith was even more confused now. That was something she didn't plan and yet she wasn't sure of what she was feeling. That was more than just being a worried friend, for sure. But she didn't know how to deal with this. Should she talk to someone? She didn't have any gay friends, other than Arizona and Callie, that definitely wouldn't be an option for that situation.

She went home sad and confused. Mostly because even before she admitted her feelings, she never thought the kiss was a mistake. She didn't want Arizona to think that either.


	6. Chapter 6

The following days were pretty much the same: Arizona kept avoiding Meredith as much as she could, while Meredith tried to be in the same room as the blonde as much as she could. It seemed like a chasing game, only neither of them knew what they were doing and why.

After a surgery that lasted more than 11 hours, Amelia was exhausted. She needed to breathe a different air than the one she has breathing in for the half of the day. She went to the attending's lounge to find her sisters.

"Guys, Joe's, now. I need a drink!" – Amelia said and received judgmental and confused looks from Maggie and Meredith and immediately realized what she said – "I meant sparkling water, morons, I just need to see people, I've been seeing the same brain the whole day, please!"

"Ok, well I'm already done for the day, what about you Mer?" – Maggie asked Meredith.

"I'm done too, let's go, then. But you're sticking to sparkling water indeed, ok miss?" – Meredith said to Amelia, playfully.

"Jesus, you're worst than my AA sponsor!" – Amelia joked.

When they entered Joe's, Maggie sat on a table right in front of the bar, where they could see some people from the hospital, including Arizona and her date.

Meredith's face changed almost immediately and both Maggie and Amelia noticed but didn't say anything.

"Ok, first rounds on me, Mer what do you want?" – Maggie asked her, but Meredith seemed focused on staring at the bar, so her sister had to ask her again – "Mer, hey, drinks?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Gin and tonic, please. Lots of ice" – Meredith asked her and tried to look away so she could actually enjoy the night with her sisters.

"So, how was your day?" – Amelia asked her, trying to catch Meredith's attention.

"Good. It was good. Yours?" – Meredith asked, still distracted.

"Like I said, long surgery, same brain" – Amelia quipped and gave up trying to begin the conversation.

Maggie came back from the bar and somehow she and Amelia could sense it wasn't going to be a good idea pointing out the hospital crew over the bar. Even though Meredith couldn't admit her feelings for Arizona, they both knew that something wasn't quite right about her sister every time she spotted Arizona somewhere.

"Gin for you, water for you, bourbon for me. Yay!" – Maggie exclaimed.

"Did you say hello to them at the bar? Should we go there?" – Meredith asked her.

"Uhm, yes, I've said hi to them. Jackson told me that Alex left just a little before we get here" – Maggie answered.

"So, what should we toast for tonight?" – Amelia said trying to change the subject that was about to come.

"How about your successful surgery?" – Maggie suggested.

"To Amelia and her successful surgery!" – Meredith said, smiling, and the sisters repeated before they take a sip of their drinks.

Arizona looked at Meredith a couple of times, but never long enough for her eyes to meet Meredith's halfway. Although she was on a date, the presence of Meredith made her feel uncomfortable with the woman, and she tried to keep talking to the other doctors there so she wouldn't need to make any public displays of affection at the bar.

Meredith was having a hard time watching the two of them and felt impotent by standing over there, not knowing anything about that young hot doctor, and especially not knowing why Arizona continued to avoid her everywhere.

"Do you know her name? Arizona's girlfriend" – Meredith asked, trying to sound just curious and not a stalker.

"Oh Lord, here we go. Mer, you've got to admit it! You have feelings for Robbins!" – Amelia said, laughing.

"I don't! Not like that! Can't I just be curious about this woman? We don't know anything about her, it's only natural for us to try to discover who she is, that's all" – Meredith answered, still hoping her sisters would know more than her.

"Mer, I have to agree with Amelia. For someone who's just curious, you're starting to sound like a jealous girlfriend" – Maggie said a little tipsy already.

"You guys put that on your heads and now you're just seeing what you want to see. I'm really sorry to disappoint you, although I really think Arizona is very beautiful, I'm not into her. Now, if you excuse me, I am going to the toilet" – Meredith said smiling, using that excuse on the moment she spotted Arizona excusing herself and going to the bathroom.

Inside the small bathroom, Meredith was looking at the mirror, waiting for Arizona to left the cabin. Once she did, Meredith couldn't help but ask.

"Can we say hello to each other here or you're avoiding me anywhere?" – Meredith asked, smiling, trying to break the ice.

"Hello, Mer. I wasn't avoiding you, I just thought that you might want some privacy with your sisters over there" – Arizona tried to explain, even though she knew Meredith wouldn't believe that.

"So, it seems serious, this relationship between you and the hematologist" – Meredith said, looking into Arizona's eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" – Arizona asked her, with a slightly sad tone in her voice.

"I'm not doing anything, I made a comment. I'm sorry" – Meredith said when she saw Arizona's eyes becoming sad.

"It wasn't just a comment, you know that." – Arizona said, looking at her.

"Ok, I just need to understand why. I can't understand why you keep avoiding me" – Meredith asked her, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.

"Because it's confusing! You confuse me!" – Arizona said a little bit louder than she intended.

"Why? What do I do?" – Meredith said, still holding Arizona's hand.

"This. You do this. You were supposed to react differently. Either you should be mad about the kiss or be ok and forget it, but somehow you're always near me asking me things, bringing this up again. That's why I keep running away from you because you confuse me with all of this, and I can't be confused, not about you, not about… this" – Arizona tried to gesture looking at their hands together.

"You're still not answering me. I didn't get mad about the kiss, I don't want to bring this up, I just don't understand why I make you confused by not wanting to be avoided!" – Meredith said, leaning forward becoming just a few inches apart from Arizona's lips.

"Why wouldn't I be confused, Mer? You're straight, I'm not. I was feeling horrible, you said those beautiful things about me. For a second, things seem right and then I blink and remember this is crazy" – Arizona said, almost giving in to her desire to kiss Meredith again.

"Stop saying that I'm straight" – Meredith asked her.

"Well, are you saying you're not straight then?" – Arizona asked her.

"No, I'm saying this label doesn't mean anything to me. I can be attracted to anyone, I don't need some title that obligates me to date men exclusively" – Meredith answered her.

"So, that means you're into women? Are you into me?" – Arizona asked her, directly.

"You're saying that" – Meredith blushed and smiled, but Arizona lost her patient by this behavior.

"Yes, Meredith, I'm saying that. You're not. That's why this is confusing and cannot happen again. I need to go back there." – Arizona said and left the bathroom, quite disappointed.

If there was a right moment for Meredith come around and admit her feelings, that was it. And she lost it. She couldn't say anything, so Arizona got tired of playing that game. Meanwhile, Meredith felt a little crushed on the inside. She thought things would end differently in that bathroom. She came back to her table with a sad look on her face.

"Are you ok?" – Amelia asked, seeing her sister's look.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Should we have one more?" – Meredith asked Maggie, who nodded yes and went to the bar.

"Well, it looks like Arizona's date is over" – Amelia said, staring at the blonde who was saying goodbye to her date and leaving the woman confused and alone at the bar.

Meredith didn't make any comments about the scene, she knew by now how much she was involved on that illusion of maybe kissing Arizona again and she would make it too obvious for Amelia if she opened her mouth to say Arizona's name one more time.


	7. Chapter 7

In bed, later that night, Meredith kept thinking about what Arizona said. She was confused, too. She never thought that one kiss could change so many things in her life, even dating a woman for a start. But she knew that everything that happens so fast in her life, usually end up being a wreck. She didn't want to bet on something she could barely understand herself, but at the same time, giving up on discovering what it seems just as hard.

Meanwhile, at home, Arizona was furious. She was mad about everything that happened since that disastrous dinner, but mostly she was furious with herself. She complained for so long about being unable to find someone she had a minimum connection, someone she could really enjoy talking to and, of course, dating. Why did she have to kiss Meredith and making things so messy? If that didn't happen, she would probably be happier dating Rachel, the hematologist. Rachel was kind, funny, and she was definitely hot. It's true she was a little younger for Arizona, as she was no longer on the mood for young women who couldn't understand her life nowadays. But damn it, she suddenly wasn't good enough just because she wasn't Meredith.

 _What did I do? Damn it, Arizona. Why did you have to kiss her? Why did you have to allow yourself to think about her? Why? Why can't you just be satisfied with something simple and uncomplicated?_

Arizona kept repeating to herself out loud, pacing around in her bedroom like a crazy woman. She needed to say it out loud so she could feel like she was confessing all of her sins. It was hard on her not being close to nobody anymore, except DeLuca and Karev. They remained very close friends to her but they were both on call and April, who once was Arizona's rock, hasn't been much available these days. She felt often lonely and the truth was that the only person who could ease some of her endless questions was exactly the person Arizona should be away from if she wanted her life to go back to normal.

At least, she was off the next day. Avoiding Meredith at the hospital was already hard enough, she didn't want to hide from Rachel too. She needed a day to put her thoughts in order and start to act like an adult. She needed to either end or invest in Rachel, but whatever she would choose, she needed to be honest with herself first. Arizona wasn't the type of person who sits still waiting for things to happen, but she surely wasn't a quitter. If she was sure about her feelings for someone, she would try the hardest she could to pursuit that. She just needed to figure out what were those feelings, and whose were those feelings for.

While Meredith was drowning herself into surgeries during the whole day, Arizona was trying to keep her head busy with as many things as possible, in order not to go crazy. She left for a morning yoga class, although it was kind of hard to perform some of those movements with her prosthetic. She was hoping some quiet morning and meditation could help her bear the idea of facing Rachel and Meredith the next day.

After the yoga, Arizona treated herself to a great lunch and some quick shopping, even though being stuck inside a store wasn't quite the idea of relaxing for her. But she needed to buy a few things for her and she ended buying some cute outfits for Sofia since the girl would spend one week with her soon.

Now the day was almost over and she could wish for was a hot shower and a glass of her best white wine. She wanted to enjoy the last few peaceful hours she had that day.

After she finished her shower, she put her robe on and was heading downstairs to get her some wine, but somehow her robe got stick on the handrail making her fall down the stairs, ruining her prosthetic and also injuring her right leg. By the time she was aware of what had just happened, she realized she was severely injured, since her pain was real high. She knew she didn't break her right leg, or she would be in so much pain than she was at the moment, but yet she couldn't stand and her prosthetic was off and completely damaged. She didn't want to call 911 and have the paramedics taking her to the hospital. She also didn't want every doctor from the hospital having her repeating the story over and over again. All she needed to do was calling April or DeLuca so they could go to her house and help her. Her cell phone was in her room, but luckily her landline was just across the stairs and she could reach it through the small wooden fence. Of course, she wouldn't remember anyone's phone by heart, so she was cursing heavily for the burden of technology, although she enjoyed it most of the time. She knew the hospital's number, however, and she just would have to ask for April on the phone.

She dialed the number and hoped April would pick up since it was sort of late and the pit should be easy now. The fate, however, wanted it differently, so Meredith was the one who picks up the call. She had just finished seeing a patient on the ER and while April had to go to OR with a critical patient, Meredith offered to stay there to help. With the flu season taking the city, the nurses were quite busy helping patients with their symptoms and sickness.

When the phone rang, no one was there to answer it, so Meredith did.

"April? Is that you?" – Arizona said when she heard the expected "Grey Sloan" on the other side.

"Dr. Kepner is in the OR, who is it?" – Meredith asked and immediately she recognized the voice. It was Arizona.

"Uhm, Dr. DeLuca is around? Who's talking?" – Arizona asked without recognizing Meredith's voice, she was trying to focus on not giving in to her pain.

"Arizona, is that you?" – Meredith asked her, just to confirm her suspicions.

"Yes, it's me, I really need to speak to someone there" – Arizona said, now feeling her leg hurting really bad.

"Arizona it's me, what happened? Are you ok?" – Meredith asked, concerned and now Arizona couldn't believe that all of her peaceful plans ended up with a broken leg and Meredith being the one available to help her.

"Meredith, can you find DeLuca for me, please? I wouldn't ask you if I didn't need it" – Arizona asked her and Meredith could tell something was wrong by the tone of her voice.

"Tell me what happened? Where are you?" – Meredith asked, insisting for her to tell what happened.

"I fell, at home, but I can't… I can't walk, so I really need someone here to help me. I would appreciate it a lot if you could find DeLuca or April for me, Mer" – Arizona explained.

"I'll be there right away, please stay close to the phone" – Meredith said and didn't even wait for Arizona's answer.

She drove real fast to the blonde's house and realized she didn't have a spare key and Arizona probably couldn't get to the door.

"Hey, hey! Who the hell are you? Stop it. Right now!" – An angry man yelled at Meredith when she was checking the window on Arizona's house.

"I am a doctor, and I work with Arizona Robbins, she fell down at a home and I don't have a key. I know her. It's ok." – Meredith explained.

"It's not ok, you can't break down her window!" – the neighbor was giving her a hard time.

"Sir, I am a doctor and I'm going to break down this window. You can call the police if you want. Now excuse me." – Meredith throws a vase against the window, breaking it into pieces, so she could enter the house.

The noise of breaking glass scared Arizona, who didn't expect it.

"Arizona? Hey, I'm here, how are you?" – Meredith asked and soon she saw Arizona on the stairs – "What happened? Don't move, let me check it"

"I fell... I've slipped and fallen down, I think my robe got stuck somewhere. My leg is broken" – Arizona answered, in pain, trying to turn around and find a better position.

"Oh my God! Don't move it, let me see it first!" – Meredith yelled, worried.

"No, my prosthetic is broken, but I think I've might cause a torsion on this one. It's so embarrassing, I just can't get up." – Arizona answered, making Meredith laugh.

"I'm so sorry... but I'm so glad you're ok." – Meredith said, laughing.

"I'm not ok! I'm embarrassed, stop laughing" – Arizona said, smiling a little bit too.

"Well, I rather have you embarrassed than hurt, so... I'm glad." – Meredith said, smiling and looking into Arizona's eyes.

"Thank you for coming" – Arizona said, squeezing Meredith's hand.

"You know, out of all the ways I imagined us having a conversation these days, that scenario was definitely not one of them" – Meredith quipped.

"Yeah, tell me about it..." – Arizona said, blushing a little bit.

Meredith helped her standing up and ordered that she would lean on Meredith so she could head to her bedroom.

"Why didn't you call 911? It would've been faster, you know? You're a doctor, you're supposed to know that!" – Meredith joked.

"I didn't want to arrive at the hospital and having everybody worried about nothing. It's just embarrassing, you know? If I had two legs, I would've stood up and headed to the hospital by myself to check on the ankle. But with just one leg, it's impossible for me to do the simplest thing: stand up." – Arizona said with a sad tone in her voice.

"I'm gonna get you some ice for your ankle, and you're gonna stay right here in bed, no more scares ok?" – Meredith said, smiling at her.

"Thank you, Mer." – Arizona said, smiling too.


	8. Chapter 8

After she came back with a pack of ice and put on Arizona's ankle, she examined her limb to check if there was any injury that she should worry about. Thankfully, everything seemed fine and Meredith believed her ankle would be better after some ice and some anti-inflammatory.

"Can we talk? Please?" – Meredith asked her.

"You don't have to do this, Meredith. It's fine." – Arizona answered.

"No, it's not fine. I need to tell you something" – Meredith said, having Arizona looking deep into her eyes.

Meredith remained in silence for a few seconds, took Arizona's hand and caressing it, she looked again to her and started her confession.

"You confuse me too, you know?" – Meredith said.

"How?" – Arizona asked, a little intrigued.

"Well, like this. When you look at me, I'm confused. You dating someone else make me jealous, so I'm confused. Worry about you like that, it's confusing. Holding your hand feels so good, it's confusing. You confuse me, too." – Meredith said, now closer to Arizona.

"What are you saying, Mer?" – Arizona asked, making an effort to control herself and not kissing the woman right in front of her.

"I'm saying I like you. More than just a friend. But I don't know how to deal with this by myself and I need your help to figure it out. So, stop avoiding me." – Meredith said, smiling, and now even closer, almost breathing into Arizona's skin.

"Do you want to do something about it? Or are you asking me to convince you to jump out of it?" – Arizona asked her.

"I want to do this." – Meredith said and leaned forward, kissing Arizona on the lips in a gentle, soft way, and little by little deepening the kiss.

That was definitely a surprise for Arizona. Not the kiss itself, since she felt that chemistry between them on the elevator and on Joe's bathroom, even though they didn't kiss in the end. But the confession, the feelings she made Meredith feels… that was a surprise. And frankly speaking, she was also a little lost in that. Even though Meredith seemed to want something to happen, Arizona was way too scared to let her mind fly away and expect more than just a few make outs every now and then.

After a lot of time kissing, they parted lips for some air and kept staring at each other. That was better than Meredith remembered of their first kiss. And that was also an alarm inside her head. Could she fall for Arizona? Does she want that? It was confusing since things happened so fast and so unexpectedly. One time they were barely friends and next they were kissing on Arizona's bed, with an urge to discover the blonde's body and taste.

Meredith wanted her. She was certain of that. But, somehow, she couldn't go forward at that moment. She was scared.

"I think you should get some rest, you've been through a lot today" – Meredith said, kissing the blonde quickly on the lips and then on her left cheek.

"Is everything ok?" – Arizona asked, noticing that Meredith seemed distant all of a sudden.

"Yes, it is. Why?" – Meredith asked back, even though she knew the reason why Arizona asked that in the first place.

"You just seem a little far away. Never mind, I'm just being paranoiac" – Arizona answered, a little embarrassed.

"Don't be, everything's fine. Does your ankle still hurts?" – Meredith asked, trying to change the subject.

"It's getting better, thanks" – Arizona didn't know if she should say goodbye to Meredith or offer her to stay. She was always good with signals, but somehow she couldn't figure Meredith out.

Meanwhile, Meredith didn't know how to explain what she was feeling or thinking, but at the same time, she didn't want to leave Arizona alone. Every relationship she had, long lasting or not, always worked out better when she didn't open up her heart. She was terrible with feelings, and even worse on expressing them.

Arizona was quite the opposite, even though she finds it hard sometimes to choose the right words to express what she is feeling, she can't hold them back too long. Either she goes big, or she goes home.

"Look, I don't really know what you're thinking, but clearly something's changed in the last thirty seconds. So, if you want to leave, or if you're regretting this somehow, that's fine. No hard feelings in here. I just don't like being held on the dark you know?" – Arizona said, causing Meredith to laugh at her.

"Why do you always assume the worst of me?" – Meredith asked her, smiling.

"I don't! But can you blame me?" – Arizona exclaimed, smiling too.

"What do you mean Arizona Robbins?" – Meredith asked her, intrigued.

"Well, first you don't invite me to your party, then you accuse me of labeling you and now this, you just… just freaked out, or whatever" – Arizona said.

"I didn't freak out! You're wrong about that. And I did invite you to my party. And you did label me" – Meredith said, laughing.

"And now you're lying to me. Geez, just said you're uncomfortable already" – Arizona quipped.

"I'm not uncomfortable!" – Meredith exclaimed.

"Well, then what is it? Am I a bad kisser? Oh God, is that it?" – Arizona asked her.

"Well, to be honest…." – Meredith got interrupted.

"Oh my God! Now you're supposed to lie to me!" – Arizona exclaimed, in anger.

"I was going to say that I kind of need to kiss you again to answer you that…" – Meredith said, smiling and leaning forward to Arizona, placing her lips against hers.

 _Damn it, I can't leave. I can't stop kissing her. And I can't sleep with her, at least not yet. How do I tell her that?_

Meredith was thinking the whole time how to explain herself to Arizona without getting her misunderstanding things. Of course she was into her, and she would want to have sex with her eventually, but it all seemed so fast she didn't want her usual rush to ruin things. Especially when things finally seemed so right to her, in such a long time.

"Can you answer me already? I can't let you go without saying if I am a bad kisser or not, it will consume me for life" – Arizona said, with her forehead touching Meredith's, and their noses playing in a goofy and romantic kind of way.

"Are you sure you want me to answer that? You know I can't lie…" – Meredith said, smiling at her.

"Dear Lord, why do you enjoy torturing me?" – Arizona asked her, trying to make a serious face without succeeding.

"This is actually the best kiss I've had in a very, very long time. I can assure you that you're a great kisser. A really, really great kisser" – Meredith said, kissing her again, making Arizona's heart melts.

"I can say the same, you know?" – Arizona said, returning the kiss and then parting lips again, locking eyes with Meredith – "Then what happened? Why did you suddenly stopped and acted weird?"

"I just… I really want to stay here with you, kissing you and having such a great time, but I-I… I really suck at expressing things, especially feelings, you know?" – Meredith tried to explain herself.

"But I didn't ask you to share your feelings with me, just to tell me if something happened, like right there, at that moment" – Arizona answered her.

"I know, I know. It's not you, it's me and my horrible way of ruining everything good in my life. I'm not just ready, you know, to advance." – Meredith was making Arizona looks even more confused now.

"Advance?" – Arizona asked, intrigued.

"Yes, advance. You know?" – Meredith was blushing a bit.

"I actually have no idea what that means, Mer" – Arizona laughed a little bit.

"I'm not ready to have sex yet. Like, tonight." – Meredith said and pulled herself away from Arizona a little bit, embarrassed.

"Why didn't you tell me before? Did I make you think I was pushing you into this? Mer, I'm so sorry. You don't have to be afraid to tell me this!" – Arizona said, pulling Meredith closer again and holding her hand.

"You didn't push me into anything, and once again, that's confusing, because I'm used to guys jumping the firsts steps. But not you. You just stay there being beautiful and sexy and making me want to jump steps just by kissing me. But I can be a little insecure sometimes and right now, even though I really want it, I think it will be better if we wait. I mean, if you want it too, I don't know." – Meredith started to blab.

"Of course I want it, too. But we don't need to do anything right now, there's no rush. But Mer, look at me, you don't really have any reasons to be insecure, ok? I don't know how this works on your mind, being with a woman, but I need you to be sure that I would never do anything to you against your will, ever. Whenever you're ready, if you feel ready, I am here, but don't feel pressured. I hate pressure, I hate the insecurity caused by pressure, so I won't do that to anyone, especially to you" – Arizona said, kissing Meredith's hand.

"Are you sure that's not a way to convince me to have sex with you right now" – Meredith said, smiling, and kissing Arizona again, who laughed.

"You're an idiot!" – Arizona said while kissing her back.

Maggie and Amelia had the kids, so Meredith didn't have to worry about going back home, so she just enjoyed being silly with Arizona, while the both of them spent their time together kissing and having long conversations. Things were so easy and pleasant that they didn't know how long was since they felt like this.


	9. Chapter 9

On the next morning, the alarm went off and woke up both women, who were sleeping cuddled in Arizona's bed. They kept looking at each other without saying a word but smiling. It was a good night, after all, and even though sex wasn't involved, they felt closer than ever.

"Good morning, you" – Arizona broke the silence.

"Good morning, beautiful" – Meredith said and kissed her.

"Did you sleep well?" – Arizona asked.

"I think that was one of the best nights of sleep I've had in a long time. You're pretty good to cuddle with" – Meredith answered, smiling, and continued – "Did you a have a good night of sleep as well?"

"I did. Thanks for staying, and for taking care of this clumsy idiot who falls alone at home" – Arizona quipped and kissed Meredith on the lips.

"It was my pleasure, but I really wish the next time I sleep in here doesn't need to be because you had an accident. Can you work on that, please?" – Meredith joked.

"I will certainly try" – Arizona answered.

"Uhm, can I go to your kitchen and fix some breakfast for you? I should head home soon to check on the kids, but you shouldn't get up yet, we need to check on your ankle" – Meredith said, while took away a lock of hair from Arizona's face.

"My ankle is fine, don't worry. Do you have time to have breakfast in here?" – Arizona asked her.

"Yeah, I think I do. But only if you let me do it. I want you to stay in bed and rest your leg" – Meredith insisted.

"Uhm, not gonna happen, but thanks for being cute" – Arizona said and kissed Meredith again.

"How can you do that?" – Meredith asked her, smiling.

"Do what?" – Arizona was intrigued.

"This look. Your eyes are quite something. Whenever you look at me like that I feel like I lose all of my power" – Meredith said, caressing Arizona's cheek.

They stayed in bed for some minutes more, kissing and staring at each other like they were allowing these feelings to grow between them. Later, Meredith went down to make some coffee and toasts, while Arizona was putting her back up prosthetic on again since her main one was broken from the fall.

Arizona insisted on working with her injured ankle, even though Meredith expressed clearly that she shouldn't. She really wanted to check on both baby and mother from the fairy accident. The baby seemed strong and completely out of the woods, but his mom wasn't that lucky. She was still on coma and having a few organs failing quickly.

"Did someone paged Dr. Grey today? I think she might wanna take a look on her" – Arizona asked Wilson.

"Not yet, I will page her now" – Wilson said and excused herself.

A few minutes later, Meredith went to the patient's room looking for who had paged her and ended up finding Arizona in there.

"Hey did you page me?" – Meredith asked her, with a huge smile on her face.

"Oh, Wilson did. She's not reacting at all" – Arizona replied, with a smile followed by a concerned look on her face.

"Damn it, she had a little improvement yesterday before I left to your house, but I guess her body is not responding to the meds. I don't think she will handle another surgery right now" – Meredith pointed, worried.

"I was going to ask the nurse to increase all of her meds, but I thought it was better talking to you first" – Arizona said.

"Thanks, but you're right. Let's do that, and wait for a couple of hours and check on her again. How is the baby?" – Meredith asked Arizona.

"He's fine, doing really great. I am heading now to give his grandfather some news" – Arizona said.

"And how about your ankle? You weren't supposed to be working today, you know that, right?" – Meredith said and now she locked eyes with Arizona.

"I'm fine, it will be better soon, don't worry" – Arizona said, quite hypnotized with Meredith's eyes.

"You look beautiful today" – Meredith said, taking Arizona's hand.

Wilson spotted the two women caressing each other's hands inside the patient's room and was somewhat perplexed. That certainly didn't look like a friend's gesture. They were smiling and staring at each other in a romantic way.

 _What the hell…?_ Wilson's thought was interrupted by Arizona calling her name.

"Yes, Dr. Robbins?" – Wilson was having a hard time disguising her surprised look and Meredith noticed that, changing her face to a more serious one.

"Can you please monitor her for next couple of hours so we can decide on whether we take her to surgery again or not?" – Arizona asked her.

"Uhm, yeah, sure. I'm on it" – Wilson answered with a weird smile on her face.

"Ok Wilson, page me if anything changes, then. I'll be back soon" – Meredith said and left the room, leaving Wilson and Arizona alone. Wilson couldn't help herself.

"A part of me gets really relieved that someone can actually make Dr. Grey smiles" – Wilson made the comment and laughed, assuming Arizona would laugh too.

"What's that supposed to mean, Wilson?" – Arizona asked her, serious.

"Uhm, nothing, I mean, that was cute" – Wilson said, still smiling but a little bit nervous now.

"What was cute?" – Arizona knew that if she pressured Wilson, she would understand that this needed to be forgotten.

"Nothing, Dr. Robbins, I'm sorry" – Wilson said and immediately left the room, nervous.

At lunchtime, Meredith and Maggie were eating at the cafeteria and Maggie noticed something different on her sister's look.

"Where were you last night?" – Maggie asked.

"What? In here. Working. Why?" – Meredith didn't expect the question and stammered.

"Oh were you? And who were you working with to have this suspicious smile?" – Maggie asked, curious.

"I don't have a smile" – Meredith answered her, avoiding her sister's eyes.

"You do. Who is it?" – Maggie insisted.

"No one! Stop it! You're becoming her" – Meredith said to her.

"Who am I becoming?" – Maggie was intrigued.

"Amelia. You're becoming Amelia, with all this curiosity and illusions" – Meredith said, smiling.

She felt bad lying to her sister, but she didn't even know what she had with Arizona. They've kissed and spent the night together, although they didn't have sex. She had no idea if they were dating, or even if she wants to date her whatsoever.

"Is it Robbins?" – Maggie asked, mischievously.

"Why do you always come back to this, Maggie? Arizona is my friend, ok? That's all!" – Meredith answered and this time she wasn't smiling anymore.

Leah Murphy was sitting right behind their table and was quite intrigued by Meredith's reaction and, of course, by Maggie even asking her this kind of question; she didn't have the opportunity to apologize to Meredith for what happened on her birthday, at the moment nobody was being really close to her anyway. Now she was motivated to reach out to Meredith and find out what was going on.


	10. Chapter 10

When Maggie left the table by a 911 page from the ER, Leah used the chance to talk to Meredith.

"Excuse me, Dr. Grey, can I talk to you for a second?" – Murphy asked her.

"Yeah, sure, what's going on?" – Meredith answered her.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened at your dinner party. I was completely out of line and never should've come to your birthday like that, and of course, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm really sorry, I really wish we can put this aside of our professional lives" – Leah sounded honest.

"Murphy, I think you were completely out of line, indeed, but you should apologize to Arizona, actually. And don't worry about this interfering in our professional lives, but with that behavior, things will get much harder for you, this job actually requires you to have friends around" – Meredith said.

"I know. I would love to apologize to her, but I don't think she would listen to me. Can I ask you something personal?" – Leah asked her.

"Well, you can, I don't know if I'll answer, though" – Meredith quipped.

"You and Dr. Robbins are close, right? You're friends" – Leah started.

"Yes, we are, why?" – Meredith felt a little nervous about where this conversation was going.

"Did she ever talk about my return? I know she was upset that I didn't come back for her or that I didn't look for her ever since, but we never had a chance to talk about it, I mean, she was very important to me that time, but I've moved on, and apparently she treats me bad because of some hard feelings from the past" – Leah said like a confession, even though it was a big lie; she knew Meredith's reaction would indicate what kind of relationship she had with Arizona.

"What do you mean 'hard feelings'? I thought you guys ended it when she and Callie decided to try again" – Meredith said with a serious look on her face, as it was something really unpleasant to hear.

"Well, yes, that's when we ended it, but she kind of had this crush on me, or I don't know, maybe this feeling of having power over someone" – Murphy said with a slight smile, making Meredith angrier.

"I think you should deal with Robbins, then. Whatever unsolved crush you both had, or still have. Just leave me out of this" – Meredith said and left the cafeteria.

Murphy was convinced that something was going on between them; Meredith's reaction clearly showed that this type of feelings regarding Arizona messes with Meredith's head.

Meanwhile, Meredith was feeling awful. Her so-called happiness didn't last even a whole day. Since Arizona wasn't really a close friend for all of these years, Meredith couldn't really tell if Leah Murphy was lying or not. She started to remember the time that Derek's past just appeared out of nowhere and how much she ended up hurt because of that. She didn't want to live this again, she wasn't even sure about her feelings.

It wasn't much longer after these thoughts that Meredith received a text from Arizona.

 _Are you on call tonight? I think we need our real first date, like, a proper date. What do you think about me and you, fancy dinner, lots of kisses, tonight?_

If it happened an hour ago, Meredith would be radiant. Right now, she just put her phone back in her pocket without answering. She didn't want a real date, she wanted a real person, willing to be with her. Maybe that was too much to ask.

Arizona spent the rest of her day checking on her phone to see if Meredith answered, and became disappointed with her silence. She started to think that maybe she acted too fast and scared her. That's exactly why she always runs away from newborn lesbians, they're never ready to anything real, while she was way too tired for mind games and reckless relationships.

When Meredith was leaving the hospital at the end of the day, she saw Rachel, Arizona's date from some nights before, and immediately felt jealous. The young doctor was entering her car in the parking lot and looking fabulous, and Meredith started to think if Arizona ended things with her or if she didn't intend to do it. She decided to wait for the blonde leaning against her car. She needed to understand if these mixed feelings of fear, jealousy, and desire were real or just something Meredith invented in her head.

Arizona left the hospital a while after that to found Meredith waiting for her.

"Hey, I didn't expect you here…" – Arizona didn't end her sentence and Meredith kissed her hard. – "Oh, I didn't expect this either"

"I don't want a real date. I just need to get inside your car and go somewhere with you where I can do this all night" – Meredith said while her hands were lifting Arizona's top.

"But I thought you wanted to wait like you said…." – Arizona got interrupted again.

"Stop talking, take me to your house. Now." – Meredith ordered.

Of course, Arizona was enjoying all this fierceness from Meredith, but she was confused as well. She was afraid Meredith was trying to prove something when Arizona didn't want her to do anything before she was actually ready to do it. She just wanted to spend time with her, have a drink and some good laughter. Suddenly Arizona was the one scared to have sex with a woman who was nothing like last night's and kept kissing and biting Arizona throughout the drive home.

Before they even step out of the car, Meredith was trying to take Arizona's top off, like they were two teenagers making out on a car hidden from the parents. Arizona pulled away from Meredith, catching her breath again.

"Mer, Mer. Hey, what's going on?" – Arizona asked, a little scared.

"Nothing, I just want you. Am I alone in this?" – Meredith seemed confused.

"Of course, not. But yesterday you wanted to wait, you said you weren't ready yet, and I am completely fine with waiting. But right now you're looking like a predator who can't even wait for us to get out of the car. This doesn't seem like you" – Arizona explained, noticing Meredith's face turn into a sad countenance.

"I think I better go home" – Meredith said and Arizona grabbed her arm immediately.

"I'm not asking you to go home, I'm not even saying we can't do anything, I'm just not sure you're doing this because you want to. Don't you wanna talk with me?" – Arizona asked her, with a sweet voice.

"I just thought that, for the first time in my life, something would be easy, you know?" – Meredith said, finally.

"What are you talking about?" – Arizona was lost.

"When I was dating Derek, when everything looked so perfect, his past came directly into my life. One day I had a love story and on the next, I was left behind with a bottle of tequila and a broken heart. Even later, even after we got married, things weren't easy. The very few relationships I had other than Derek weren't any easier. So, this time, with you, I just thought we could enjoy being together in an easy way" – Meredith said, still making Arizona feels lost.

"Mer, I understand what you're saying about your past and about what you wish for your life right now, I just don't understand how this explains your behavior or even why you get so fast to the conclusion that things between us won't be easy" – Arizona insisted on the matter.

"Because your past is haunting me too!" – Meredith said a little louder.

"My past? How is that so? Did Callie say something?" – Arizona was even more lost than before.

"No, not Callie. Murphy" – Meredith confessed.

"Mer, you were the one who told me that she was out of line that day. How can she be haunting you?" – Arizona asked her.

"Well, when she asks me if you ever said something about still being heartbroken for her, it's actually a great way of knowing more from your past" – Meredith said and Arizona couldn't hold her laughter.

"Oh my God, did you seriously believe in her?" – Arizona was laughing.

"It doesn't matter Arizona. If it's not her, it's always someone. And that's fine, you have a past, I have a past. I am the one who's not ready for facing this kind of competition right now" – Meredith explained, serious.

"Of course it matters, Mer! She's lying for whatever reason she wants to, and honestly, I really don't give a damn about her or what she created on her mind. She's a great girl who expected more from me than I ever intended to give. I ended things quickly because I wanted to give my marriage another chance. She got hurt, I felt bad for it, but it happens. I never told her that we were exclusive, I never told her I wanted a relationship with her. It was casual, even though I cared about her and her feelings. So, yes, I have a past and right now I am pretty sure that the past is still in the past." – Arizona explained and held Meredith's hand.

"How can I be sure I won't be another Leah Murphy for you?" – Meredith asked, worried.

"Because I wouldn't have denied sex worrying about you being ready or not. Because I wouldn't try to convince you to stay and forget about this competition silliness. And because you make me feel awesome. It's not everyone who makes me feel like that." – Arizona said and kissed Meredith on the lips – "Now, can we go inside and cuddle before I freeze out in here?"


	11. Chapter 11

The two of them entered Arizona's house and went straight to her bedroom. They talked a little bit more about this whole situation with Leah and how she misunderstood things with Arizona and also how Meredith was feeling about everything.

"It's all new for me. I've been in relationships before, but they were all very clear to me. Right now I don't even know what we have" – Meredith said, making Arizona smile.

"Well, it's something we can decide right away if you want. What do you want to have with me?" – Arizona asked her while holding her hand gently.

"I don't know. I don't know how it works with women. Do we call this 'dating'?" – Meredith asked and couldn't help but laugh, feeling a little bit weird about it.

"Weren't you the one who didn't like labels?" – Arizona joked, kissing her on the lips.

"I don't like them, but especially when they hinder me getting what I want" – Meredith said slowly, word by word while kissing the blonde.

"I don't think we need to establish anything right now, we just started this, let's enjoy it" – Arizona said, resting her head on Meredith's shoulder.

They started to see a movie and Arizona soon fell asleep since she was very tired from her long day at the hospital. Meredith sent a text to Amelia letting her sister know she wouldn't come back home that night.

In the middle of the night, Amelia had to call Meredith, a little unsure of what she should do.

"Amelia, what is it? It's 3 in the morning" – Meredith answered the call with a sleepy and confused voice.

"Zola can't stop vomiting since bedtime. I don't if she ate something bad at school and now she's running a fever" – Amelia said, a little faster, like she was worried.

"Did you gave her Tylenol and Pedialyte? She needs fluids or she will dehydrate" – Meredith said, still lazy on the bed.

"Mer, I've tried everything, she can't keep anything in, she needs IV fluids and meds, her fever is getting higher, can I take her to the hospital?" – Amelia asked, serious.

"Yeah, yeah, of course, I'm heading there and we'll meet soon. Thank you Amelia" – Meredith said and Arizona woke up to the sound of her voice.

"Hey, is everything ok?" – Arizona asked seeing Meredith getting up and looking worried.

"Zola can't stop vomiting and is running a fever, Amelia is taking her to the hospital and I'll meet them there, I'm sorry I woke you" – Meredith said, buttoning her blouse.

"I'll go with you, I'll just put some clothes on" – Arizona said, picking up her prosthetic by her side of the bed.

"You don't have to, it's quite early yet, get some rest, I'll give you news" – Meredith said, kneeling on the bed to kiss Arizona.

"I'm a pediatrician, do you remember? I'll go with you and check on Zola. And also we came in my car, so you need a ride anyway" – Arizona said and quickly pick up some outfit from her wardrobe and changed.

They arrived there before Amelia since Arizona lived closer to the hospital than Meredith, which was good because then Amelia wouldn't see they come in together and shoot Meredith with a lot of questions.

When Amelia and Zola arrived, the girl seemed pretty bumped down. Her fever was still the same since Amelia last spoke to Meredith.

"Hey sweetie, what's wrong with you?" – Meredith scooped Zola, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm feeling really sick, Mom" – The girl said, hugging Meredith.

Arizona came close to them and held Zola's hand.

"Hi sweetie, well, I'm gonna take you to a nice and beautiful bed so you can rest while we check on you to see what's making you feel sick ok?" – Arizona said with a big smile on her face that always calm down anyone around her.

They put Zola in a room on peds ward and Arizona kept the girl really calm and even laughing while she draws some blood herself. She didn't want a nurse to do that and scary Meredith's kid. She also put the IV fluid on her so she could rehydrate. Amelia and Meredith were at the room's entrance observing how good Arizona was with kids.

"Jesus, I barely could convince Zola to drink water at home and now she's laughing while Robbins stick some needles on her" – Amelia joked, relieved to see her niece looking a little bit better.

"Yeah, well, I feel lucky enough when they agree to go to bed. I know what you're feeling right now. She's just very good with children" – Meredith said, staring at the blonde with passionate eyes.

"Where were you?" – Amelia asked, even though she knew the answer.

"Nowhere" – Meredith answered without looking at her sister's face.

"Well, ok. I'm just glad that wherever you were, you had a great connection with the best pediatrician in Seattle" – Amelia joked and left the room to buy some coffee for them. When she got back, Arizona had the labs too.

"It seems that it's just a food poisoning. Did she eat something unusual?" – Arizona asked them.

"Not at home, when she got back from school she was already feeling sick, she didn't have dinner" – Amelia answered.

"Maybe something at school, I don't know. How is her fever?" – Meredith asked Arizona.

"It's almost gone. Let's keep her here until the morning and see if she's feeling better, but there's nothing to worry about" – Arizona said, smiling.

"Thank you, Robbins!" – Amelia said, hugging her friend.

"Of course, anytime" – Arizona answered her.

Meredith took Arizona's hand and rubbed her thumb up and down on them, and smiled, with a mix of relief and passion.

"Thank you, very much. I'm sorry you had to wake up so early" – Meredith said, not really caring that Amelia was right there.

"Ok, so anyone here will tell me what's going on? Are you guys dating, right?" – Amelia asked, making Arizona blush a little bit.

"Amelia, stop being meddlesome!" – Meredith said, but not really mad at her.

"I wouldn't be if I wasn't being lied to!" – Amelia pointed and Arizona just remained in silence. – "Arizona, please?"

"Ok, let it go, Amelia. We're still figuring it out, ok? We don't know what we are. Would you stop asking this every minute now?" – Meredith said and pulled Arizona closer.

"I knew it! Yes! Finally, you two!" – Amelia said, hugging both women. – "I'm really happy for you both. But Robbins, you better be good to my sister"

"She is. She's really good to me" – Meredith said, kissing Arizona on the cheek.


	12. Chapter 12

Around 8 in the morning, Arizona went back to Zola's room to check on the girl, who was asleep. The fever broke down and she hasn't vomit anymore, which made Meredith relax.

"She's doing great, we can stop the fluids once this one's done and you can take her home" – Arizona said to Meredith, smiling.

"Thank you, Dr. Hotty" – Meredith said, kissing her.

"I texted Bailey as Zola's doctor and let her know you're having the day off, so go home and be with your kids, get some rest, ok?" – Arizona said, kissing her too.

"You didn't have to do that, thank you" – Meredith said, really touched by Arizona's caring.

"I wanted to. Sometimes you just need to let people take care of you, ok?" – Arizona said and hugged her.

It definitely felt good. The hug, the caring, the kisses, being part of each other's lives, even if it was a little faster that expected, was suiting both women just fine. Meredith took Arizona's advice and went home with Zola. Amelia and Maggie went looking for Arizona by lunchtime to check on Zola's update since they both got stuck on a long surgery all morning.

"Hey, Robbins, any updates on Zo?" – Amelia asked her friend.

"She was better, no fever and no vomit. Meredith took her home and got the day off." – Arizona said.

"Thank you!" – Both Maggie and Amelia said at once.

"No worries. If you're not on call tonight you should help Meredith with the kids, I bet she's exhausted from this morning" – Arizona suggested, making Amelia smiles with the caring behavior towards her sister.

"We will, don't worry! Thank you for everything, Robbins. It's nice to have you close" – Amelia said.

Arizona had to hurry to perform a 911 surgery on a mom in labor with triplets. Maggie was mesmerized by how sweet the blonde was with Zola and Meredith.

"More than ever I think Meredith should really consider dating her. She's so caring and sweet with our family" – Maggie said to Amelia, not knowing that she already knew about them being a couple.

"Oh, well, I guess you can stop wishing that now. They're together!" – Amelia couldn't keep the secret.

"They WHAT? How do you know? Why Meredith didn't tell me?" – Maggie sounded pissed and surprised at the same time.

"I discovered this morning, when I got here with Zola, Arizona was already waiting for us, and by the time Meredith thanked her I figured it was no longer our sweet imagination!" – Amelia quipped about it.

"They're out, then? Like, officially a couple?" – Maggie asked.

"I don't think they've labeled it yet. It's better if we keep it down for now, but they're together. Meredith was looking like a moron teenager in love, it was ridiculously cute" – Amelia said, pulling out some "OWWW" from Maggie.

A few hours later, Arizona called Meredith to check on her and Zola.

A: _Hey, how is Zola? And you?_

M: _We're pretty good, there's an awesome doctor who took really good care of us._

A: _Oh, is that so? Good to know, then. Did you get some rest today?_

M: _Well, not so much. The kids were really happy to see me home all day, they wanted attention._

A: _Yeah, I figured that. Do you need something? Can I help you in any way?_

M: _To be honest, I was thinking of you all day. I wanted us to have dinner and maybe have our first real date, but I'm so exhausted right now that I bet I'll be the worst date you ever had, so maybe Friday?_

A: _Friday sounds perfect. Get some rest, ok? Call me if you need anything, for real._

M: _Does anything include missing you? I might want to call you for that._

A: _Call me, especially if you'll miss me, beautiful._

M: _You better have your phone close, then._

The feeling of having butterflies in the stomach was something almost new to Meredith and Arizona. Although they've felt like that before in their lives, it was a long time since they really liked someone. Since the divorce, Arizona had only a few bad dates and casual sex, and the first time she actually found someone that could maybe be different, Meredith was there, standing in the way. Arizona knew she wouldn't be able to jump in something with the hematologist when all she could think of was the kiss she had with Meredith. And, on the other hand, Meredith always felt guilty being in dates because of Derek. She couldn't explain if it was different with Arizona because she is a woman, but it was really great allowing herself to be happy by someone's side without blaming herself for moving on. Deep down, she knew Derek would hate to see her alone for the rest of her life.

Two days after that, the so-expected Friday, Meredith was nervous as a teenage girl having her first date. They were both at the hospital but barely saw each other, since Arizona was drowned in so many surgeries that day. Maggie and Amelia looked like vultures surrounding Meredith wanting details about the date.

"Where will you go tonight?" – Amelia asked.

"Will it be a fancy dinner? Or a bar? Are you excited?" – Maggie continued.

"Do you know what you're wearing?" – Amelia insisted.

"Guys! Stop making me nervous! I don't know any of these answers" – Meredith shouted and Alex heard it.

"What's going on?" – Alex asked and the three women suddenly kept in silence. An awkward silence. – "What is it? Who has a date?"

"Why do you assume someone has a date?" – Maggie asked, trying to sound convincing.

"Because that's pretty much the only reason women get so perky and loud about" – Alex answered. – "So, who is it?"

"It's me. I have a date tonight" – Amelia jumped in to distract Alex from Meredith since she knew her sister didn't want to tell anyone by now.

"Oh, good for you. Do we know the guy?" – Alex asked her.

"It's a girl, actually" – Amelia answered, waiting for Alex's response.

"A girl? I didn't know you play for that team" – Alex said.

"Alex, that's rude and misogynist" – Maggie pointed.

"I didn't mean it that way, I think it's great. Maybe you could date Robbins. She's single again, she's a good catch" – Alex pointed making Meredith sighs with discontentment.

"Can we go home now, please? Don't you have to get ready, Amelia?" – Meredith said with a bit of anger in her voice.

"I do. Gotta go, Alex. Tell you later about my awesome date with this awesome girl!" – Amelia enjoyed making the story up.

Thinking about how people were going to react about them being a couple really started to freak Meredith out. Will they think of her as a traitor of Derek's memory? Things just started to get worse when Zola saw her getting dressed for her date.

"Are you going out, Mom?" – Zola asked with a disapproval look.

"I am, Zozo. Why? Do you need something?" – Meredith said, trying not to give into her daughter's wishes.

"Are you going out on a date?" – The girl shot the question and made Meredith uncomfortable.

"Why are you asking me that?" – Meredith needed to gain some time to think about what to answer.

"You're dressing up fine. I don't like you dating, Mom." – Zola said, sitting on Meredith's bed.

"And why is that?" – Meredith asked, smiling, trying to see that just as a kid's jealousy of the parents.

"Because I think you should be with Dad" – Zola answered, making Meredith look sad immediately.

"Zozo, we already talked about this hundred of times. I wish Dad was still here with us, but he's not and now he is our guardian angel. He would like me to move on with my life" – Meredith said, kneeling down to look into her daughter's eyes, who just left the room in silence.

Meredith picked up her phone and dialed Arizona's number.

A: _Hey, I'm almost ready, how about you?_

M: _Yeah, me too. I was wondering, could we meet at the restaurant?_

A: _I was going to pick you up, don't you think it's better?_

M: _I'm sorry, I just think we can keep this a little low for now, can we meet there?_

A: _Mer, why are we going to use two cars? Maggie and Amelia know about us already, what's the big deal?_

M: _They know, but my kids don't. I just think it's better like this, at least for now. Is it ok for you?_

A: _Yeah, yeah, of course. Let's say 8 pm there?_

M: _Great, see ya!_

Arizona wasn't completely ok with that, to be honest. She knew Meredith was going to have a hard time during this process of outing herself, but Arizona knew better not to kiss her in front of the kids, she was a mom herself and would do anything to protect her daughter from this exposure as well, at least at the beginning. But she was sensing that the kids weren't the only reason and she was afraid Meredith wasn't ready at all for any kind of relationship, especially one with a woman.


	13. Chapter 13

Arizona parked her car in the restaurant parking lot and entered it, unsure if Meredith was there already or not. Then she saw Meredith waving at her, smiled to the hostess and went towards the table by the window, with nice candles and a nice bottle of champagne waiting for them.

"You look amazing!" – Meredith greeted Arizona with a kiss on her right cheek and next in her neck – "And you smell heavenly"

"You look gorgeous, too. That's a great table" – Arizona smiled, but she wasn't as excited as she was a few hours ago.

"Champagne?" – Meredith offered, noticing the distance between them.

"I'm actually driving, I can't drink" – Arizona said.

"Well, can't you leave your car here and get a cab home? I can drive you here tomorrow to pick it up and you can have a nice champagne with me to celebrate our first real date" – Meredith suggested and even though Arizona wasn't feeling like there was something huge to celebrate, she accepted.

They ordered their meals and started conversations about work and medicine. That didn't feel like a first date, it was sounding like an uncomfortable blind date between two people that suddenly just had medicine in common.

"Ok, is something wrong?" – Meredith asked.

"No, this duck is amazing, do you want some?" – Arizona offered, not catching the real reason Meredith asked about.

"Not about the dinner, but about this. The date" – Meredith explained.

"Nothing's wrong, why? Are you not enjoying" – Arizona asked, feeling guilty about being distant.

"You just seem distant and frankly this was our worst conversation since we started this. We used to have long and funny conversations about everything and tonight all we seem to know about is medicine" – Meredith confessed.

"I'm sorry. I think I'm a little discouraged. It's my fault" – Arizona apologized.

"What do you mean by that?" – Meredith was kind of lost.

"I was too excited this afternoon, thinking about our date, and when you called me, I don't know… I just felt like I was way ahead of you, I create expectations when I'm happy, it's my fault actually." – Arizona explained and Meredith was feeling guilty too.

"You're not ahead of me. We're in the same place. I just need a little more time to get my head around this, and the kids. I'm sorry, I didn't want to discourage you in any way" – Meredith said, holding Arizona's hand.

"I know, you need time. It's okay, really. Can we start over? Try this again?" – Arizona asked her, knowing that this date was already ruined.

"Of course. Whenever you want" – Meredith replied, with a smile on her face.

They ended their dinner and skipped dessert. Both of them just needed some time to process what happened and they would do that better apart.

Meredith called a cab and insisted on taking Arizona home.

"There's no need, I can call one for me" – Arizona said, trying to be polite.

"Can you let me take you? Please? I want to spend a little more time with you, this wasn't how I planned, I really wish you had a good time" – Meredith asked Arizona, kissing her neck again. The blonde accepted the offer and they entered the cab that arrived just a few minutes later.

Meredith asked the driver to wait a little bit while she'd walk Arizona home. On her front door, Meredith took Arizona's hand and kissed it and next placed a kiss on the blonde's lips.

"I'm sorry for tonight. I want to do it again, the right way. I really mean it" – Meredith said, holding her tight.

"I know, I'm sorry, too. We'll have a better second date, I promise" – Arizona said, kissing Meredith again and entering her house.

They both ended up feeling down at home, unsure of how weird things had become in such a short amount of time. Amelia saw the lights in Meredith's bedroom and got confused about her sister already being at home. Since the door wasn't fully closed, she knocked and said Meredith's name.

"Meredith?"

"Come in" – Meredith answered.

"Hey, what are you doing home so early? I thought you were going to sleep at Robbins'" – Amelia sounded confused.

"Yeah, our date kind of was awful" – Meredith said with a sad tone in her voice.

"It was? How?" – Amelia was surprised, in a negative way.

"We were like unknown people, we only talked about medicine, it definitely wasn't a good date for both of us" – Meredith explained.

"But how did that happen? You were in such sync these days. What has changed?" – Amelia asked noticing her sister really upset.

"Zola said to me earlier that she didn't want me to date and that bumped me down. I called Arizona and asked for us to meet in the restaurant because I wasn't comfortable with the kids seeing her as my date. She, then, thought she was ahead of me, and the last thing we know, we were complete strangers having dinner unable to talk about anything fun or relevant" – Meredith sighed, sad.

"But why Zola assumed you are dating someone? Did you tell her? Did she see you and Arizona at the hospital that day?" – Amelia was still confused and surprised.

"No, she was asleep there. She just saw me dressing nicely and shouted this. She thinks I should stay with Derek even though I've explained hundred of times that he's gone. Sometimes I think this is going to be like that, forever. I can't erase Derek, I can't move on and the first time I feel like I can, the rest of the world reminds me that I actually can't" – Meredith blew out with watered eyes.

"Mer, you know it's not true. First of all, you don't have to erase him. He's part of your life, of this family, forever. The best thing you can do for his memory is to treasure that. About the rest of the world, just fuck them, you know? Forget about what people think you should do and when you should do it. If you like her, if you want this to work out, then work it out. The kids will come along eventually" – Amelia said, hugging her.

Despite all the differences between Meredith and Amelia, lately, they've becoming very close friends again. Amelia could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but the woman has been through a lot, so she has experiences to share and really good advice. She is also the best supporter in Meredith's life, since she is all for taking chances, no matter how high is the risk. Now that was the best person to be on her side because she was afraid enough to go after this love story with Arizona. If people would continue to feed her fears, she'd end it before it even starts.

"Can you sleep here tonight? I'm feeling childish and lonely, I don't wanna sleep alone" – Meredith asked Amelia.

"Are you going to make a move on me?" – Amelia joked knowing that this would cheer her up.

"I take it back, go away" – Meredith answered laughing.


	14. Chapter 14

The next day started better than usual. The kids were behaving nicely and didn't take long to get ready and leave with the women of the house. Maggie, Meredith, and Amelia had busy schedules at the hospital and it was often hard when the three of them had to leave at the same time and the kids wouldn't help much. They dropped Zola at school and headed to the hospital with Bailey and Ellis. Meredith took them to daycare while Maggie and Amelia headed to the attending's lounge to change into their scrubs and start their day.

When Meredith entered the hospital daycare, the first person she spotted was Arizona, which was weird, since Sofia wasn't in Seattle.

Bailey was very fond of Arizona since Meredith suffered the attack a few months ago, because Arizona often spends time with him and Ellis when they were around the hospital, and even in Meredith's house, once she was allowed to go back home, and Arizona helped her several times.

When the little boy saw the blonde doctor, he ran towards her.

"Hi, Auntie Awzona!" – He said to her with his cute childish voice.

"Well, hello, little guy! How are you? I think you've grown since last time I saw you!" – Arizona kneeled to hug him and gave the boy a little kiss on his head.

"I'm almost four!" – He showed her his fingers, smiling.

"Yes, you are. You're no longer a baby boy, right?" – Arizona really enjoyed talking to him.

"Bailey, give me your jacket, please? And would you let Arizona work?" – Meredith said to him, smiling at both of them.

"Bye Auntie Awzona" – He said stretching his arms to receive a hug from the blonde, who was heart melted with him.

"Bye, sweetie! Have a nice day, ok?" – Arizona said, hugging him tightly.

"I didn't expect to see you here, is Sofia in town?" – Meredith asked her while folding her son's jacket.

"Some kid fell down and hit the head, Karev is off today so they've paged me to check on him, but he's fine, thank God" – Arizona explained.

"How are you?" – Meredith asked her, referring to last night's episode.

"Honestly? I feel bad, kind of guilty. I didn't want to ruin our date" – Arizona said in a lower voice, so nobody around would listen.

"You didn't ruin anything, I guess we were out of synch, that's all. Are you free tomorrow night?" – Meredith asked, squeezing Arizona's hand.

"I am, in fact, why?" – Arizona asked her.

"Do you want to go out on a date with me? A good one, this time." – Meredith quipped.

"I'd love to. Can we skip the fancy dinner part though? Usually, I'm not, but yesterday I was kind of intimidated by all of this" – Arizona explained.

"How about some wine and trash movies at your place? Does that sound good enough for a first date?" – Meredith said, smiling.

"Since it's going to be our second date, I think it's perfect" – Arizona answered, returning the smile to Meredith.

The day ended with no further surprises, other than a few surgeries unexpected for Meredith. Amelia went to the daycare to pick up Bailey and Ellis, and as she was walking with them towards the exit door to wait for Meredith, Alex bumped into them.

"Hey, the whole gang!" – Alex exclaimed.

"Yeah, time to go home, finally, right kids?" – Amelia said to them and Bailey agreed with his head. The boy was often shy and a little anxious around people, even though the ones he was used to. Every time someone tried to make fun with him, he hid behind Amelia, Maggie or Meredith. The only one who could make him act like an extroverted kid was Arizona.

"So, how was your date last night? Big catch?" – Alex joked, still believing that Amelia was the one who had a date.

"Didn't happen, busy schedules" – Amelia said, evasively.

"Oh, that means she's also a doctor?" – Alex sounded interested.

"Don't you have anything better to do than finding out about my dating record?" – Amelia said and was relieved that Meredith showed up.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" – Meredith asked them and received a huge smile from Ellis who immediately wanted to go to her arms.

"Bailey, it's really good to have you, you know? You're the only Shepherd that likes me!" – Amelia joked with the boy, who laughed.

"Say goodbye to Uncle Alex, guys!" – Meredith said, smiling at Alex.

"Hey, Mer, she's a doctor!" – Alex joked, making Meredith confused.

"Who?" – Meredith asked.

"Amelia's date" – He affirmed.

"Goodbye, Alex" – Meredith said, vexed.

"Is Aunt Awzona coming with us?" – Bailey asked, making Meredith and Amelia exchange confused looks. None of them knew where this came from.

"No, sweetie, she doesn't live nearby our house, actually" – Meredith answered, a little unsure why he asked that and decided to find out. – "Why are you asking about her?"

"Because when she went in our home sometimes she did magic tricks for me" – Bailey explained.

"Well I can make magic tricks, too, you know?" – Amelia pointed and received a judgmental look from Meredith. – "What? Doesn't count as a magic trick to destroy every single good opportunity of love in my life?" – Amelia joked about herself making Meredith laugh.

"Sure it does" – Meredith answered.

When they arrived home, Maggie had already prepared dinner for the family, since she left the hospital earlier than the other two. The kids had dinner and bath and Amelia put them on the bed, while Meredith was cleaning up the dinner.

Later, in her bed, the three sisters were talking.

"What are your plans for tonight? Do you want any tips on how to proceed with a date without bringing medicine or work up?" – Maggie joked, making Amelia laugh hard.

"She doesn't need that, Mags, she's going act crazy when Arizona ask about her favorite movie, like 'Oh my God, I can't be that intimate with someone!'" – Amelia continued the jokes about Meredith.

"Ha-ha. Very funny, you two. You: fell for a resident. You: can't admit you love Hunt" – Meredith returned the jokes, pointing their flaws when it comes to relationships.

"I did not fall for anyone!" – Maggie exclaimed.

"Well, I guess I'm not the only one afraid of relationships, then!" – Meredith said and suddenly the three of them started to reflect on the matter.


	15. Chapter 15

It was almost 7 pm and Meredith and Arizona's date was about to happen soon. As they agreed, a wine and movie would be the right fit for them. Amelia drove them in the morning, so Meredith didn't have to go on separate cars to Arizona's. When they met in the attending's lounge by the end of their shift, they both seemed excited about.

"Hey, I didn't see you all day. Ready to go?" – Arizona asked her.

"Yeah, I'm just grabbing my stuff" – Meredith answered, smiling.

"Are you driving?" – Arizona asked.

"No, Amelia drove me today. Is it ok if we go on yours?" – Meredith answered, trying to show more security about them leaving together from the hospital.

"Yeah, sure! Do you want me to wait for you downstairs, in the car…?" – Arizona was trying not to push her into anything so the date wouldn't go as bad as the first one.

"No. I'm ready to go, let's go together" – Meredith said and placed a kiss on Arizona's lips since the room was empty.

They left and entered Arizona's car, and before she could take the car out of her parking space, Meredith grabbed her arm, and make her turn around to look into her eyes.

"I'm really glad we're here" – Meredith said and kissed her, this time not so quick and way deeper than a few minutes ago.

"I'm really glad, too" – Arizona said, with her forehead leaned on Meredith's.

At this time, Alex was heading out to his car and saw the two of them really close and became pretty obvious that they were kissing. He just stood there in front of his car staring at them, a little skeptic of what he was seeing. By the time they ended their last kiss and looked to the front of the car, they saw Alex staring at them. Arizona immediately sighed, as she knew it was going to be another disaster.

Meredith swallowed her tension and trying to sound more confident than she was already feeling, she told Arizona to drive.

"Are you sure you don't wanna talk to him? I can talk to him if you want…." – Arizona got interrupted by Meredith.

"It's fine, he'll be fine. Let's just go home, ok?" – Meredith said it gently and put a smile on her face.

After Arizona started to drive and the sight of Alex was becoming more and more distant, Meredith sighed in relief. She knew the other day was going to be filled with questions and opinions, but right now, she just wanted to make it all worth.

When they arrived home, Arizona was really nervous. She was sure that Alex seeing them was going to be a big deal, so she wanted to clear things up right before it starts.

"Look, Mer, I understand if you're feeling a little uncomfortable now because of Alex, so that's ok if you want to postpone this" – Arizona said with a sad tone.

"I don't want to postpone it anymore. Are you ok with Alex?" – Meredith asked her, holding her hand while they were in Arizona's kitchen opening a bottle of wine.

"Of course I am, he's my friend, is no surprise for him to see me with another woman. But I don't really know if you can say the same, right?" – Arizona was sounding a lot more insecure that she'd like.

"Yeah, he's definitely surprised, but I believe it's in a good way. So, let's take this wine upstairs and start our date?" – Meredith said, kissing the blonde who enjoyed.

They were watching a movie and between kisses and glasses of wine, they started to make out. Suddenly everything else in the world seemed insignificant for them. Meredith was on top of Arizona and they were both fighting for breath while they continued to dance this wild dance with their tongues and hands. Meredith took off Arizona's shirt and kissed her chest gently. Arizona could feel her heart beating so fast and she could also feel it reflecting in every part of her body. She wanted that so bad and finally, it seemed to be there, right there, with them. She wanted to turn Meredith over to stay on top of her, ripping off all of her clothes and explore her gorgeous body, but she needed to keep it together since she knew it would be Meredith's first time with a woman.

"Do you want to wait? We can wait. We can stop now, we can control… I mean, I can control myself, if you want" – Arizona could barely say those words with all the kissing and moaning.

"Well, I can't control myself. I want you" – Meredith said and Arizona just smiled.

The sex was something quite unforgettable. For a first time, Meredith seemed to be a really fast learner, while Arizona kept Meredith moaning so loud with pleasure like she wanted. They both gave their best in that. Meredith was really into discovering every part of Arizona's body with her tongue and fingers. She nailed her fingers so deep on Arizona's thighs that she ended up with fingernails marks afterwards.

Arizona showed Meredith that sex could be a lot more than what she was used to. Even with the smallest things, like the thin layer of air between Arizona's mouth and Meredith's breast. Just that small distance and heat made Meredith shivered, even before Arizona touched her. That was a feeling she had never experienced before.

Meredith came three times in a row, she was insatiable and Arizona loved that.

It was after 3 am when they finally stopped and cuddled. Arizona was caressing Meredith's hair slowly, while they were staring at each other in a peaceful silence.

"How are you feeling?" – Arizona asked her.

"I can't describe it. I think I've never felt this before, not like this" – Meredith said, smiling and pulling the blonde closer to her.

"Yeah, me too. Not like this." – Arizona agreed.

They quickly fell asleep, but it seemed like just five minutes of sleep when the alarm went off. Arizona was the most difficult one to wake up while Meredith was used to getting up even when she felt like sleepwalking because of her kids.

"It can't be time to wake up already, we just started to sleep" – Arizona groaned.

"Wake up, sleepy beauty. We've got to go to work" – Meredith said, kissing Arizona's back.

"I don't want to, I quit" – Arizona muttered.

"I'm part owner of the hospital and my policy is to not let the beautiful doctors quit, so I'm afraid you have no choice" – Meredith quipped and Arizona turned around to kiss her.

At the hospital, Meredith was relaxed and even forgot about Alex until he crossed paths with her. She sent him a look that was almost a cry for help. She didn't want to have this conversation now. She was happy and as her friend, he should understand.

"So… Is there anything you would like to tell me?" – Alex said, waiting for an explanation from Meredith.

"Not really" – Meredith answered, focusing on her tablet that she was checking her patient's labs on.

"C'mon Mer! I'm your best friend and you were going to hide that from me?" – Alex complained.

"Alex, please, if you're here to lecture me, save it, ok? Not today!" – Meredith was being defensive.

"I'm not going to lecture you! I just wanted to understand it. When did it begin? Are you guys dating? Did she corrupted you?" - Alex quipped making Meredith laugh too.

"She kissed me first, but I went after her then. It just started but I'm not ready to tell people yet." – Meredith explained.

"Did you guys done it already?" – Alex asked in a lower voice.

"Alex!" – Meredith reprehended him.

"What? I just want to know if you need some tips!" – Alex said and Meredith slapped him on his arm.

"It's none of your business, but if you must know, I'm the one who can give you some tips now" – Meredith joked and left him smiling by himself.


	16. Chapter 16

Two weeks have passed by and things were getting better and better for both women. Nobody at the hospital knew yet, except for Amelia, Maggie, Alex, and Jo, who pretend she didn't know a thing, afraid of the doctors. Instead, they kept seeing each other after work in Arizona's place or having dinner eventually, on places that the staff from the hospital wouldn't go easily.

It was not enough, for both of them, but they were trying not to bring this up. Arizona didn't want to pressure Meredith. And Meredith didn't want to confess her concerns about making it official for everyone, especially for her kids.

Things started to change when Meredith invited Arizona over to have dinner at her house. It was Maggie's suggestion that the kids should get used to seeing Arizona more often instead of being surprised by the fact that their mom was dating all of this time and didn't tell them. That was definitely a big step for them, but Arizona was trying to remember how good she is with kids.

 _You already know them, they like you. It's not like they're going to throw food at your face and shout, "Leave, intruder!"_

That was Arizona's thought all the way from her house to Meredith's. Could it be possible for kids to be that mean? She suddenly forgot that she sees kids every day for a living.

 _Ok. You can do this. You brought ice cream._

Arizona repeated that to herself before she knocked on Meredith's door. Amelia opened it with a grin and shouted:

"Hey, look who's here Bailey! Arizona!" – Amelia exclaimed and hugged the blonde, who was still nervous. – "Quit the creepy look Robbins, it's just dinner and you're not fourteen anymore. C'mon, get in"

Bailey, still wet from his bath, ran towards Arizona with excitement and Meredith appeared in the living room in a rush.

"Hey, you're here! Sorry, he heard your name and ran to you, I think he wet your pants a little bit" – Meredith said and kissed Arizona on the cheek, really close to her lips.

"Awzona I wanna show you my room, it has space rockets in it!" – Bailey said pulling her hand and walking with Arizona.

"Does he have a crush on her?" – Amelia asked Meredith while they were watching the little boy take her to his room.

"How much more competition I'm going to have?"- Meredith sighed, making Amelia and Maggie laugh.

The dinner went really well, a lot more pleasant than Arizona expected and Bailey didn't let her go for a second. Arizona really did make the boy feel awesome when she taught him some magic tricks and he performed just perfectly.

After the kids went to bed, the four women were in the living room talking and laughing, and nobody was feeling nervous anymore.

"Arizona, how long has it been since you moved to Seattle?" – Maggie asked her.

"Long enough to break a LOT of hearts, sis" – Amelia joked.

"Shut up, Shepherd. Don't make me look bad in here!" – Arizona quipped and continued. – "It's been almost ten years now"

"I remember your first days in peds, all perky and skating around the hospital" – Meredith said, kissing her.

"Do you guys remember the first time you saw each other?" – Amelia asked, finding it cute their bonding time.

"I remember my first consult with Arizona and how much I was intrigued by her eyes. Really, you guys, check on them. Isn't the bluest eyes you've ever seen?" – Meredith pointed to Arizona's eyes, making her blush a little.

"With all due respect, I think everyone has seen her eyes by now, Mer. They're kind of hypnotizing" – Maggie confessed.

"Oh, geez. Please, stop it, I'm feeling embarrassed." – Arizona asked them.

"What about you, Robbins? Do you remember the first time you saw my sister?" – Amelia insisted.

"I don't think I remember…" – Arizona said but she was bad at lying and Amelia noticed.

"Liar! I bet there's a good story behind it" – Amelia exclaimed.

"What? Does it? Do we have some story of our first meeting that I don't remember?" – Meredith asked Arizona who was blushing harder.

"Ok. Ok! I'll tell you guys. Dear God, I'm never going to drink around you again, that's so unfair" – Arizona muttered.

"Spill it, Robbins!" – Amelia shouted.

"Well, I kind of… you know… new hospital, new city…" – Arizona was babbling.

"So…?" – Maggie rushed her.

"So I kind of had this little crush on Meredith when I first saw her" – Arizona confessed.

"What? Is it serious?" – Meredith was laughing and surprised.

"That's not even the worst part yet" – Arizona confessed, having all eyes on her.

"Go on, go on! I'm dying to know" – Amelia exclaimed.

"Well, I saw Meredith every now and then around the hospital and I started to become delusional thinking that somehow she was going to be flattered by my crush on her and that I should definitely ask her out. I created this whole story in my head, because I am insane, but luckily, on the day I was ready to ask her out – and by then I didn't even know if she was aware of who I was – I couldn't help myself and made a slight comment with a Peds' nurse. I said 'Oh, do you know that doctor over there? Dr. Grey? Isn't she super cute? I'm going to ask her out tonight. Maybe just a few drinks at this bar across the street. Do you think she's into blonde women?' and the nurse looked at me with a judgmental look and said, loud and clear 'Honey, she's engaged. And straight!'" – Arizona told the story and all of them were laughing hard.

"Oh my God! Did you actually thought Meredith was gay?" – Amelia asked her.

"I don't know! In my head she was into me, I told you I'm delusional!" – Arizona tried to justify.

"Oh babe, I thought that was cute, but I'm glad you didn't ask me out because I would've probably said no and you weren't going to kiss me years later" – Meredith said, kissing her.

"It must be hard for you to tell who's gay in this environment, right? We all dressed the same way, having the same friends…" – Maggie pointed and Arizona nodded while she was emptying her glass of wine.

"Word on that, Maggie. It's hard. You straight people confuse us, all the time. But I have a really good gaydar. I don't know why it went nuts when I met Meredith" – Arizona explained.

"I guess it wasn't that nuts after all" – Amelia pointed.

"And the nurse still works there? It´s gonna be hilarious if she sees you two together now!" – Maggie exclaimed and Amelia backed her up.

"Yeah, now you can go on and say to her 'See? You were wrong, she's into me!' and watch her jaw drops!" – Amelia suggested.

"She quit a few years ago, but it would be really funny to see her face, I must admit" – Arizona confessed, laughing.

"But I gotta go with Robbins, I often create these love scenarios in my head, too" – Amelia confessed, making Meredith laugh out loud.

"Oh, you do. I can confirm that!" – Meredith said.

"C'mon, Mer, it's not that bad!" – Amelia tried to justify herself.

"Yeah, right, a guy came over here to fix our cable TV and Amelia had to leave the living room and confessed later that she was having so many dirty thoughts about him that she was feeling sick" – Meredith told them.

"Oh, cable guy? I'm not that cliché, Amelia. I go for doctors, mostly" – Arizona joked.

They kept talking for a long time until Maggie went to her room, it was late and only Amelia was off the next day. Arizona knew that she couldn't drive home since she drank and she asked for Meredith's phone to call a cab since hers died a few moments ago.

"Can I use your phone to call a cab? Mine is dead" – Arizona asked and Meredith was second-guessing if she should invite her to stay or not.

"Do you want to go home? It's kinda late" – Meredith said, making Arizona confused.

"Well, I think that's why I need to go home, we all work tomorrow" – Arizona said.

"Yeah, right. I mean unless you would like to stay…?" – Meredith was trying to invite her but not using the right words to do it.

"There's no need, but thanks" – Arizona wasn't feeling that this was a sincere invitation and preferred to refuse it.

"Ok, let me do this again? Would you stay here with me tonight, please?" – Meredith invited her, with a grin on her face.

"Are you sure? And what about the kids?" – Arizona asked, worried.

"Well, the kids are going to be loud in the morning, if I'm being honest. And they are terrible eaters, so breakfast is going to be a huge debate. Other than that, it would be lovely to have you with us" – Meredith said.

"I'm sold!" – Arizona replied, smiling.


	17. Chapter 17

They were pretty tired by then and quickly fell asleep. Ellis' cry woke Meredith up, and she picked up her robe and went to her daughter's room. The girl sometimes wakes up crying wanting to sleep with Meredith, but this morning Meredith couldn't give in to that. Instead, she spent a few minutes with the girl until she fell back asleep. When Meredith came back to her bedroom, Arizona was sitting up in the bed, wondering if she should leave already or not.

"Sorry, did Ellis wake you? – Meredith said, kissing Arizona.

"No. I mean, yes, but I'm a light sleeper anyway. Is she ok?" – Arizona asked, helping Meredith to get under the covers since it was a freezing morning.

"She is, sometimes she just wants to sleep in here with me" – Meredith said without realizing that this might sound wrong.

"I'm sorry, do you want me to go? I should get ready soon anyway" – Arizona asked, a little embarrassed.

"No! Please, of course I don't want you to go. I've promised you yelling and fights over breakfast, you can't go" – Meredith said, kissing the blonde again.

The kiss progressed to something more heated and soon enough they were both naked having sex. When they finished it, Meredith invited Arizona to go to the shower with her, but her leg situation was still a hard thing for her to deal with.

"I'm sorry, I forget sometimes. I supposed this bathroom is not ideal for you, right?" – Meredith apologized.

"Yeah, it's kind of hard for me to do anything in the shower without the bars for me to hold on to" – Arizona explained.

"Of course, I understand. I'm sorry for the suggestion. Can I help you in the shower? I can be your bar" – Meredith asked, smiling and trying to erase her previous suggestion.

"You don't need to apologize, beautiful. Are you sure you feel comfortable being in this situation?" – Arizona asked, trying to fight her own embarrassment over her leg.

"What situation?" – Meredith asked.

"Helping me in the shower, seeing the real deal with the leg, since in bed I can pretty much do well without it" – Arizona quipped.

"The real deal is that you're a fighter and I can only be proud of you. I would love to help you. And also see you wet" – Meredith said, kissing her.

After the shower, they went downstairs to prepare some breakfast. Meredith thought it was weird that Maggie wasn't there yet since she usually is the first one to organize everything. While Arizona was doing some waffles and coffee, Meredith was trying to wake up the kids. As usual, Bailey was the hardest one.

"Honey, c'mon, you can't do this every morning, we're gonna be late" - Meredith was talking to him while the kid was fighting to stay in bed.

"It's too cold, mom, I want to stay in bed today" – Bailey exclaimed.

"Well, ok, but you're going to miss our guest for the breakfast" – Meredith played the Arizona card.

"Who is it?" – Bailey was curious now.

"I guess you have to wake up and see for yourself" – Meredith said and left his room.

They boy slowly got out of his bed and was tip-toeing downstairs trying to discover who was the surprise guest. He stopped on the kitchen door and when Arizona turned over, he smiled and hid his face on the wall.

"I told you were going to enjoy the guest" – Meredith said, laughing. – "Aren't you going to say good morning to Arizona, Bailey?"

"Good morning" – He was still smiling but seemed more shy than usual.

"Good morning, sweetie. Can I give you a kiss?" – Arizona asked him, getting closer to the kitchen entrance where he was standing.

He nodded yes, so she leaned over and hugged him tightly and started to tickle him, making the boy giggle. He was often a quiet kid because of his shyness, but whenever he opened up to somebody he shows his cutest side. Other than Meredith and Arizona, Amelia was the only one who could get him to feel relaxed and not frequently anxious as usual.

Soon enough the other kids were all in the kitchen having breakfast together and Meredith went checking on Maggie, who hadn't show up. She was sobbing in her room, lying in bed, not dressed for work yet.

"Hey, what's going on?" – Meredith sounded worried.

"It's nothing, I just had a dream about my mom and now I can't stop crying" – Maggie explained, trying to get it together, but falling apart seconds later.

"Oh, Mags, I'm so sorry" – Meredith hugged her sister, without knowing exactly what she should say.

"I just… I think about all the things we still could've done together, you know? This is so cruel, thinking about the time we're supposed to have" – Maggie said, crying.

"There will never be enough time when we love someone. I know a lot about losses, but my experience is so different than yours. My mom and I weren't close. And my relationship with Derek was nothing like this kind of relationships with parents. I mean, when he died all I could think of was how was I supposed to live without him? You know you can live without your parents when you're an adult, but it's just as hard as if you still depended on them. You kind of assume they're your responsibility. In the end, only time can ease the pain" – Meredith tried to comfort her.

"Thank you. For everything. I certainly couldn't do that without you" – Maggie said, feeling a little bit better now.

"Well, I couldn't do a third of my daily routine without you, so I think we're good in here" – Meredith quipped.

"I'm really glad you've found someone to share all of this with. Arizona is a great woman" – Maggie said and Meredith just smiled and left the room, feeling a little anxious now.

She was sharing personal experiences of loss with her sister and suddenly Maggie suggesting that Arizona was the one who Meredith would share things from now on just scared the hell out of her. Was she ready for this kind of commitment? Better yet, was she ready for another loss in her life, if things come to an end – for whatever reason?

She went downstairs to find Arizona playing with the kids, holding Ellis who was giggling and saying a few words. That sight was really endearing to see, but also reminded Meredith of how important Arizona was becoming to her family.

"Hey, is Maggie ok?" – Arizona asked when she saw Meredith.

"She will be. She's getting ready. I have to hurry up those kids otherwise we're going to be really late" – Meredith said, getting Ellis from Arizona's arms.

"I need to go home and change, do you need me to drop Zola off on my way home?" – Arizona offered and although it seemed like a great offer to save Meredith some time, she got scared again. That was too much for now.

"There's no need, but thank you. See you in a bit?" – Meredith said, kissing Arizona on the cheek since the kids were around.

"Yeah, sure. Ok, now, who's gonna give me some hug before I go?" – Arizona said to Bailey who was pretending to sleep on the couch.

"Me!" – the boy shouted and ran to hug the blonde.

"Bye, sweetie. I'll see you soon, deal? Let's do some more magic tricks!" – Arizona said and the boy didn't want to let her go. Meredith had to force him.

Arizona went home and left Meredith thinking about how fast this could go if they just let their hearts speak. At the same time, she was amazed by how good Arizona was with everyone: her sisters, her kids, her friends, and, of course, with her. She was caring and thoughtful in a way Meredith didn't really know. She was the type of person who would let a candy inside of Meredith's locker in the middle of the day, just to make her smile. Or yet be the type of person who agreed to watch some kids movie for the ninth time just to spend some time holding hands, because Ellis was a little sick and Meredith couldn't do anything else. This type of partnership was something Meredith expected from Derek and had, most of the times. But even when it came to prioritizing a career or a dream, he was a little selfish. Meredith was raised selfishly and had to learn how to give because of the children. Now she was dating someone who seemed to be an altruist and put Meredith first in everything.

That, of course, was one way to see it. Arizona was a caring person by nature, but she was also self-centered and highly competitive, which makes her an ambitious person in her professional life. Somehow, after everything she achieved over the years, she seemed to be in a place where there was only one thing that was missing: love. After Callie and the disastrous custody fight, after a painful divorce, Arizona couldn't find comfort in any women. None of them knew her truly, none of them could imagine how much she's been through. Meredith was her comfort zone, in a positive way. She knew her, even though not very deeply. Meredith knows her flaws – at least most of them. Meredith knows her disability. Meredith knows that life's too short for them and that's why they seemed to have bonded so fast.

Apparently, they both really liked each other, but they were fearing and expecting completely different things out of it.


	18. Chapter 18

It was over a few months now and just as it could be expected, the more people were finding out about them, even though they didn't really make comments with them, the more Meredith was getting scared of how far this would go. They were taking it very easy, with no labels or many expectations about future – or at least not many conversations about the matter – and she knew that people could ruin things sometimes.

In one afternoon, after a long surgery on a 10-year-old along with Karev and Jo, Arizona left the OR exhausted but also proud of how good they were in there. When they were scrubbing out, Jo said.

"So, Dr. Robbins, Alex and I would love to have you and Dr. Grey for a dinner this week. I mean, if you want to, of course" – Jo said nicely.

"Oh, that's lovely, Wilson, thank you. Let me talk to Meredith about our schedule and let you know, ok?" – Arizona answered.

By that time, Alex already had many conversations with her about this new relationship, especially because he was a kind of big brother to both Meredith and Arizona, even though he was younger than both of them, and was always trying to protect them both. He warned Arizona about Meredith's outbreaks every now and then and how disconnected she can be sometimes. On the other hand, he also spoke to Meredith about Arizona's insecurities that often seem like cockiness and how she can prioritize her career over anything, even her personal life, but that doesn't mean she would ever be a jerk to her. They liked knowing these kind of things from a mutual friend, they were both traumatized with their past and the more they can learn to protect themselves, the better.

Arizona crossed paths with Meredith on the stairs near the main entrance of the hospital, and as usual, it seemed like the best time of the day.

"Hey beautiful, I was on my way to look for you" – Arizona said, kissing her on the cheek on a very, very loving way, making Meredith shrugs.

"Oh, here I am, now" – Meredith said, smiling, but trying to keep a distance when she noticed some people staring at them.

"So, I was in surgery with Alex and Jo and they invited us to dinner in their house, some day in this week. I told her I would check with you about the schedule, when are you free?" – Arizona asked, with a slight excitement.

"You agreed with that?" – Meredith asked, a little confused.

"Uhm, yes? It's dinner, with Alex and Wilson, why wouldn't I?" – Arizona now was intrigued.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" – Meredith asked, really bothered with people staring.

They went to a supply room and Arizona was naïve thinking that Meredith wanted an excuse for them to make out and quickly wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's neck, but Meredith pulled herself away immediately.

"I think we need to talk, Arizona" – Meredith said, with a tight heart.

"What's wrong?" – Arizona asked, confused.

"I think this is going a little too fast for us. I mean, people staring at us, gossiping around the hospital, and now Alex and Wilson inviting us over as we were a normal couple…" – Meredith was saying when Arizona interrupted her angrily.

"A normal couple? What does that mean, Meredith?" – Arizona asked.

"It's not that, I didn't mean it like that. I meant a regular couple, as we were official, you know?" – Meredith tried to explain and made it worse.

"As we WERE official? I'm lost in here. What are you saying? That we aren't a couple? That we aren't normal? What the hell, Meredith?" – Arizona sounded furious.

"You're only listening to what you want to hear! Can you please, let me explain it?" – Meredith asked her, calmly.

"Yeah, be my guest" - Arizona answered sarcastically.

"What I'm saying is that we're having the greatest time together and the moment we expose ourselves to all of them, they're going to talk, to gossip, to spread rumors and I don't want us to go through that. I really like you and I think the best for us is to keep it down for a little longer" – Meredith said, trying to hold Arizona's hand, who pulled it away.

"You know what? I think that's only the best for you, not us. I have been hiding my feelings and myself since I discovered sexuality because of the environment I was raised in. It took me a while to stand up as a grown, successful woman and not be ashamed of who I am and who I am with. I've tried to understand you in the first few months; it was all new to you. But now, one of our best friends is inviting us to dinner and you're freaking out saying bullshit like we're not supposed to expose ourselves as a couple. They're already talking Meredith, people don't need us to walk in with a sign saying 'we're a couple'. I've waited for you to be comfortable with me around your kids, your sisters, your house. I've waited for you to be comfortable enough to be on a date with me, to hold hands at least when we are ten thousand miles away from here. But I won't wait any longer. If you wanna be with me, then you'll need to accept us in real life, and not in closets anymore." – Arizona stated, making Meredith vexed.

"Is that an ultimatum? Is that how we're going to do that?" – Meredith asked.

"No, Meredith. That's me looking after me, that's all. I can't be with someone who already forbids me of thinking about the future with her" – Arizona explained.

"Future? We're dating for a few months and you're talking about future? What is this? Do you want to plan our wedding?" – Meredith was being sarcastically in order not to sound angrier.

"No, Meredith. I'm not thinking about getting married to you, but I don't want to begin something already knowing that's not a possibility at all!" – Arizona was louder than she wanted to.

"I didn't say it wasn't a possibility, I just asked for us to take it slow, that's all. You're turning this into something worst" – Meredith pointed.

"I don't think we can go any slower than that. I want more, Meredith. The ball is in your court now, you need to figure if you want more of that, too." – Arizona said and left the room.

Meredith stayed in there for a little while, reflecting on what they'd argued about. They ended up saying things the wrong way. Meredith liked Arizona so much, but she just wanted to live her life inside of this warm and peaceful bubble where no one could disturb their relationship. She didn't want to justify or explain anything to anyone. She didn't want to be reminded of Derek. She didn't want to be a target of rumors inside that hospital. She didn't want to jeopardize what she had with Arizona. She wanted to protect Arizona, too. But apparently, Arizona was quite ready to pop out the bubble.


	19. Chapter 19

Before the day ended, Meredith texted Arizona trying to work things out, even though she didn't actually know how to do that.

 _I never meant for us to break up, I just don't know how to change things that I can't control. I don't need the world giving their opinion about us. I hope we can work it out, I really really like you._

Arizona knew how much Meredith hated texting, so she was kind of surprised that she even thought of it. The text itself didn't do much for Arizona, whatsoever. She also didn't know how to change what she was feeling. She couldn't stay in a relationship that wouldn't go forward or with someone who didn't want to assume her. She truly believed in her feelings for Meredith, but she also was sure that maybe in time things would be clearer for both of them. Either Meredith would come around and assume their relationship, or they would break up for good and live their lives.

Meredith couldn't sleep all night thinking about the awful argument they had. Suddenly everything seemed so small and not as important as the way she felt every time Arizona smiled or made her kids smiles. Meredith would have a really hard time letting her go, but she also couldn't see herself showing the world how she not only is dating again, but she is also dating a woman.

She hated herself for being so ignorant about her own life and feelings.

The next morning she had a hard time with both Bailey and Ellis sick with the flu, having Amelia to drop off Zola at school, while Meredith asked for the morning off, until she manage to get a sitter for the kids. She couldn't skip the whole day due to a surgery in a patient she took care for years now. He was finally scheduled for his last surgery after a long battle with a stomach cancer.

Arizona, on the other hand, was called in the middle of the night due to a pregnant woman who was having a massive hemorrhage. Even with all of her effort, the woman survived, but the baby didn't. The odds were quite negative and Arizona knew, but even so she felt horrible. After the surgery she couldn't handle talk with people. She gave the husband the bad news and right after that she locked herself in an on call room and lied there. As a surgeon, she was used to death, and especially as a pediatrician she saw many kids die. But today she felt that she saved the mother but not only a baby died, but also the woman's dream of motherhood. She remembered of her own miscarriage and felt incredibly sad. She wanted so much to hear someone saying that everything would be all right. She needed to hear some positive words, just to bear the rest of the day. But of course that the person she wanted to hear the most she couldn't reach.

After lunch, Meredith arrived at the hospital and went looking for Maggie, since she was also checking on her patient, as he was an old man and had some cardiac complications on his medical record.

She found her sister checking on the OR board.

"Hi, Maggie, did you see the lab results of Mr. Grinner?" - Meredith asked her.

"I did, it looked bad. Bailey was watching him overnight though, I haven't seen her yet to see what we should do, I thought you wouldn't come today" - Maggie answered with a concerned look on her face.

"I had to, I didn't want him to lose his surgery again, but ok, I'll look up for Bailey." - Meredith said.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you ok?" - Maggie asked, sensing her sister a little distant.

"Yeah, I'm fine." - Meredith answered, lying.

"Meredith, are you sure? You look nothing like fine" - Maggie pointed.

"I'm just tired, Ellis got me waken all night" - Meredith explained.

"You don't look like Ellis-tired" - Maggie said, confident.

"What is this?" - Meredith seemed confused.

"You don't have your twinkly tired-but-happy-mom-of-Ellis face" - Maggie said waiting for an honest answer.

"What are you talking... uh, never mind, I don't wanna know" - Meredith said and started walking.

"Something happened between you and Arizona?" - Maggie asked and Meredith's face immediately changed.

"Yeah, break up happened." - Meredith said, sadly.

"WHAT? Did you guys break up?" - Maggie exclaimed, having Meredith pulling her to an empty room so they could talk with no one else around.

"Keep it down, please. But yes, I think we did." - Meredith confirmed.

"Why? Wait... What? You think? You're not sure?" - Maggie exclaimed again.

"We had a major fight. And we're not speaking, so, I think we've broken up" - Meredith stated.

"Did occur to you to, uhm, I don't know, talk to her and see where you are?" - Maggie suggested.

"She doesn't want to talk to me." - Meredith explained.

"Have you tried?" - Maggie asked impatiently.

"I texted her. And I hate texting, so she should know that's' a major effort from me." - Meredith said overly confident about that.

"Meredith, you know I love you, right? We're sisters, and I love you." - Maggie asked her.

"Of course, I know. I love you too." - Meredith was a little confused but tried to be reciprocal.

"Oh, thanks. But, you're an idiot." - Maggie pointed.

"What?! Why? That doesn't sound very lovingly to me." - Meredith was intrigued.

"You TEXTED her and you think that's an effort? How old are you? Twelve?" - Maggie was somewhat angry with her sister

"I didn't know what to do, she left and I can't change her mind, what was I supposed to do?" - Meredith asked her.

"Why was the fight about?" - Maggie sat on the bed and invited her sister to do the same so they could talk.

"I'm not ready to make our relationship public and somehow she understood that as a permanent thing, like I'm ashamed of her or something, and said she doesn't want to go on like that" - Meredith explained and as she was saying those words, her heart was aching.

"Well, are you? Ashamed of her?" - Maggie asked her.

"No! Of course not. But do I need to share my personal life with everyone?" - Meredith asked and Maggie remembered her relationship with DeLuca.

"Mer, there's a big difference between sharing your personal life and assuming your relationship, and trust me, they both have consequences, not entirely bad and not entirely good. But if it's something so important for her, I think you at least need to understand her reasons. You can't hide it forever, too, so it's more a matter of why don't you wanna do that, you know?" - Maggie showed her opinion.

"I just don't feel ready. It's so weird being in a relationship after Derek. And things with her are great, but I feel like if we change the slightest thing, we're going to ruin that. So I'm not ready to go forward, and I'm not ready to give up, so I'm lost in halfway and I don't think she'll meet me there" - Meredith said with watering eyes.

"You have to let Derek go, Mer. You can't hold yourself forever because of what you had, it was beautiful and magical but you need to live the present. And you need to cherish the good things that are coming your way. Arizona is one of them, so I think you should at least consider taking this step forward. You shouldn't care about what people say, you've got us, you've got friends. The rest of it can go to hell. They don't matter!" – Maggie was trying to cheer her up and support her relationship, but Meredith didn't seem convinced.

"I don't know Maggie. Maybe it'll be good for us to have this time apart and think about it. It's not fair to her also, to be with someone who doesn't really know what she wants" – Meredith affirmed.

"And do you believe in that? You really don't know what you want?" – Maggie asked and they were interrupted by Murphy who entered the room, not knowing that were people in it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here" – Leah said and quickly noticed Meredith's watering eyes.

"That's ok, we need to go check on Mr. Grinner. Do you meet me there, Maggie?" – Meredith said, leaving the room and Maggie nodded yes, and left next.

Leah was wondering if something had happened between Meredith and Arizona, now that many rumors were spread at the hospital, she knew her suspicions were right from the beginning.


	20. Chapter 20

Two days had passed and Arizona was succeeding on focusing in her ward, not really bumping into Meredith at the hospital. Unfortunately, that morning, a huge explosion at a clothing factory brought dozen of victims to Grey Sloan, and Bailey needed as many hands as possible to help on the ER.

Arizona was helping with first aid on the victims that didn't had severe injuries, while the trauma team was receiving the first two really bad ones.

Not long after that, Meredith crossed paths with Arizona on the hall, while the blonde was listening to the patient's lungs, as the lady was having a difficult time to breathe.

"Hey, do you need any help?" – Meredith offered.

"Not really, thanks. She just need to rest and wait for the oxygen to make her feel better" – Arizona answered, gently.

"Listen, I know now is not the best time or place for us to talk, but this Saturday is Bailey's birthday, we're having a party at my house and I'm sure he would be thrilled if he saw you there. I know you hate me right now, but if you can put this aside, just for one day, for him, I would really appreciate it" – Meredith said with a sad look on her eyes, remembering how much her son loved Arizona.

"I don't hate you, you know that. Well, I work this Saturday, what time is the party?" – Arizona asked, unsure of what she should answer.

"It starts at four. Try to pass by, just for a little while. We're having a magician!" – Meredith smiled.

"Ok, I will, of course." – Arizona smiled back.

Luckily all the patients from the explosion survived and both Meredith and Arizona finished their shifts on time. When Meredith was picking her stuff out of her locker, Arizona entered the attending's lounge.

"Hey, already finished for the day?" – Meredith asked when she saw the blonde entering.

"Yeah, luckily they all survived" – Arizona answered.

"Are you heading home?" – Meredith asked, now walking closer towards her.

"Uhm, yeah. I am" – Arizona said, trying not to show any weakness around Meredith.

"Do you feel like having a drink on Joe's?" – Meredith asked, now squeezing Arizona's hand.

"Mer, don't do that. Not until you know for sure what you want. I'm still not up for being at Joe's unable to hold your hand or look at you the way I am now, giving away that I like you. I see you on Saturday" – Arizona said and left the room, making Meredith sighs with discontentment.

Half of Meredith didn't quite believe she was going to fix the situation just by inviting Arizona to Bailey's party; she was realistic enough to know that. But the other half had this sweet illusion that maybe all they need was to say 'hello' to each other and forget about everything else. Given the outcome, Meredith couldn't do much unless wait until her son's party for her to have another moment with the woman she liked.

At home, Amelia was trying to find out why it was so difficult for her sister to just apologize and move forward with the relationship, but Meredith was pretty much evasive about this matter.

"You know, I just don't get it, you two seemed so happy these past weeks. Doesn't make sense" – Amelia stated, trying to get Meredith to say something. Since she remained quiet, Amelia continued. – "Mer, don't you think you need to talk about this?"

"With you?" – Meredith asked her.

"With anyone! Arizona, especially" – Amelia exclaimed.

"Amelia, there's something bigger than just your opinion about my life. Arizona doesn't want to talk, we're adults, I can understand that and I'm giving her space. She will be here for Bailey's birthday and maybe we can talk a little bit more. For now, we're good the way we are" – Meredith said, trying to sound more confident than she was actually feeling.

"The thing is: I know you better than you think, so I know you're lying. You're not ok with that, you're scared. What I can't seem to figure out is how much you like her, because if that is as much as I think you do, you'll be miserable when she moves on." – Amelia said and left the kitchen, she knew she needed to make her sister reflect about it by herself.

Meredith was reading in her bed, although it was hard for her to pay attention to any word on the book, her mind was far away, thinking about what Amelia said and trying to understand her real feelings, when Bailey appeared on her door, sleepy.

"Can I sleep with you tonight, mommy?" – the little boy asked her, rubbing his eye.

"Sure, honey. What's wrong, you can't sleep?" – Meredith asked, snuggling the boy.

"I woke up missing you" – he said, lovingly.

"You did? Guess what? Mommy misses you too, every day, in my sleep" – Meredith said, fondling his thin hair.

"You can wake me up next time you miss me, I won't be mad" – Bailey said, making Meredith laugh.

"Oh, is that true? Funny, because in the morning you are always mad when I wake you up" – Meredith said and the boy giggled.

"But in the morning you don't say you miss me, that's why I get mad" – he said, with confidence.

"Ok, I'll make sure I remember it tomorrow. And are you excited for your birthday party this Saturday?" – Meredith asked him.

"Yes! Is auntie Awzona coming to my party?" – he asked Meredith, looking into her eyes and made her shrug.

"She is, I invited her today. I think it's going to be a great party" – Meredith tried to change the course of the conversation.

"Yes! She and I will make tons of tricks with the magician!" – the boy exclaimed really excited about Arizona coming to his party.

"I'm sure you will!" – Meredith couldn't hide her satisfaction with his happiness.

"Mommy, is Awzona sleeping here tomorrow?" – he asked her.

"Honey, her name is Arizona, with the R. And no, she is not. Why?" – Meredith asked him.

"Don't you like her anymore?" – Bailey asked, making Meredith furrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you mean, sweetie? I like her, she's a nice person" – Meredith was intrigued.

"I know, but before you liked LIKED her, and now she's not coming here anymore" – the boy had a sad look on his face.

"Honey, do you know what it is to like LIKE someone?" – Meredith asked him, smiling.

"Yes, it's like it is with uncle Alex and aunt Jo" – he answered, making Meredith blush a little.

"And do you think that Arizona and I were the same?" – Meredith asked him, and he nodded yes, so she felt the urge to ask more. – "Why do you think that?"

"Because you were holding hands and she makes you smile" – He said and Meredith couldn't continue the talk.

"Well, Arizona is a very special person to me, but right now, I need you to sleep, mister. It's too late already and I know how hard it's going to be for me to wake you up tomorrow. So close your eyes, think about something really good and have some sleep, ok?" – Meredith ordered.

"Ok. Good night, mommy" – Bailey said.

"Good night, honey, sweet dreams" – Meredith said and turned off the lights, unable to close her eyes and play again the words her son just said inside her head.


	21. Chapter 21

The next day passed by quickly and Meredith and Arizona haven't seen each other all day. Arizona started her shift later than usual since she would be on call the whole night, while Meredith pushed forward her surgeries in order to leave early and start prepping Bailey's party.

When Maggie was about to leave with Meredith, she got paged for a big trauma coming in, a 50-years-old man who had a heart attack while driving and caused an accident involving a pregnant woman, who suffered a severe lung perforation. Riggs had to go with the man while Maggie and Arizona were working on the woman. They were scrubbing in to operate on her at the same time – Arizona would try to save the baby and keep him from born prematurely while Maggie would try to save her lungs. At the OR, Maggie couldn't help herself.

"So, do you know it's Bailey's birthday tomorrow? My nephew, not the chief" – Maggie asked trying to sound unpretentiously.

"I know, Meredith invited me to his party" – Arizona answered without taking her eyes off the patient.

"Oh, good, I was going to mention that. So, you're coming, right?" – Maggie asked.

"I work tomorrow, I have 24-hour-shift this weekend, but I'll pass by at least for a little bit" – Arizona said, knowing that Maggie was trying to bring up the breakup subject.

"He's going to be really happy to see you" – Maggie insisted.

"I'll be happy to see him, too. He's definitely a delightful kid" – Arizona said smiling, even though she was using a surgical mask, it was possible to see through her eyes

"So, how are things between you and Meredith?" – Maggie asked, risking hear some angry words from Arizona.

"They aren't, Maggie. But I think it's best for you to talk about that with her, right? She's your sister, she has the preference" – Arizona said, gently and Maggie understood that as a sign for her to stop asking about Meredith.

The surgery went better than expected, although they spent 2 hours longer than they had thought they would. Maggie headed home to help Meredith with the party arrangements, while Arizona took the tiny break to take a nap inside an on call room. She would still have the whole night ahead of her.

It was Saturday and almost time for Bailey's party and the boy couldn't be more excited about his birthday.

Meredith and Amelia had the day off to prep things while Maggie had a big surgery until the beginning of the afternoon. Meredith made waffles with strawberries, the boy's favorite, for his breakfast.

Zola was especially upset that day. She and Bailey were on that sibling phase when they had different interests and both wanted to have Meredith's full attention. Zola was feeling left aside since it was her brother's birthday and refused to sign the birthday card Meredith, Amelia and Maggie made for him.

Amelia tried to cheer the girl up by offering to take her along to the saloon to have mani and pedi and she accepted. A little aunt-niece time could leave Meredith more relieved to enjoy the day with Bailey without feeling guilty.

Bailey asked for a skateboard but Meredith was way too scared of letting him try it at such a young age, so instead she gave him a bike, that seemed safer for him. Luckily he was excited enough to forget about the skateboard, at least for the day.

Meredith hired a catering to set up the food for the party, and had a small decoration improved in her backyard, that was tiny, but enough for the amount of people invited.

Meanwhile, Arizona was at the hospital finishing her shift that lasted the whole night with two emergencies unexpected. She was pretty exhausted but also anxious about Bailey's party. She loved the boy and was excited to see him celebrating, but she knew that along with that had Meredith and all that unsolved feelings between them, especially locked in a house with a lot of people in it, where Arizona couldn't simply hide, like she does at the hospital.

When she finished all of her post ops, she walked towards her car at the parking lot. She needed to buy a present for Bailey and she was feeling so tired she couldn't even think about something creative. She tried to remember what Sofia liked when she was Bailey's age and all she could think of was dolls.

She drove to a mall near her house and decided she was going to try a toy store and ask for help in there.

 _Maybe Lego? Kids usually love Legos._

She was thinking that when she entered the store. A young and beautiful woman greeted her.

"Hello, welcome! Can I help you?" - the saleswoman said to Arizona.

"Hi, I'm looking for a present to a four-year-old" - Arizona answered, hoping that she would suggest a miracle right away.

"Ok. We are adopting a new policy in here of not asking the kid's gender, so instead I'll ask if you know what he or she likes, these days? We know kids change their favorites all the time!" - the woman was really nice and gentle.

"Oh, that's adorable. Well, he likes magic. Everything related to that. But he's little, so I don't know if it's something appropriate for his age" - Arizona said and her tiredness made her a little blind about the woman flirting with her, by looking directly into her eyes and smiling.

"Well, I guess this is your lucky day, then. We have a whole session of magic in here, for all sort of ages." - the woman said while touching Arizona's hand.

"You do? Oh, God, this is my lucky day, then, indeed. Can you show me?" - Arizona asked.

"Yeah, of course, follow me, this way" - the woman said, with confidence and now Arizona realized that maybe she was flirting - or she was delusional from her tiredness.

Arizona spent some time searching through the best magician kit in the store that was fit for Bailey's age. She decided for one of them and asked for the woman to wrap it with a nice gift paper.

After Arizona paid, the woman followed her to the exit and gave her the wrapped present. Smiling, she grabbed Arizona's hand before she left and said:

"Well, thank you for choosing our store. And, uhm, if you feel like having a drink sometime, this is my number" - she gave Arizona a small piece of paper with her number written on.

Arizona was kind of perplexed and didn't know exactly how to answer, so she just smiled and thanked the woman.

 _What was that?_

She went home and had a shower and tried to take a quick nap, just to rest a little bit from the night shift. She set the alarm so she wouldn't sleep the whole day and miss the party.


	22. Chapter 22

Some guests were at Meredith's already and Bailey was happy and running around with other kids. Every time someone would knock on the door, Meredith would feel nervous thinking that could be Arizona, and at the moment she would see everybody else but her, she felt sad. She was afraid Arizona wouldn't show up and that would make her feel even sadder than Bailey would.

Arizona was about to leave home when her cell phone whistles with a message sound. Arizona couldn't believe her eyes, Leah Murphy had some nerve, she had to admit.

 _I overheard Dr. Grey and Dr. Pierce talking about you. So I must guess somebody used you, or was the other way around, again? Anyway, I hope you are ok. I miss you, sometimes._

Arizona was pissed off and worried at the same time. What did she hear from Meredith and Maggie? And was she planning on use that information for something else than trying to flirt? Did she tell someone about that? She had so many questions and she didn't know what to do. She just left for Meredith's house and tried to avoid these thoughts at least for the afternoon.

When she arrived there, she took a deep breath before knocking on the door. She knew it was going to be awkward with Meredith but at least she would be around familiar faces from the hospital and Amelia and Maggie of course.

When she knocked, Meredith opened it and smiled at the blonde.

"You came!" – Meredith exclaimed, excited.

"Yeah, I told you I was going to attend, Bailey is really special to me" – Arizona smiled back but keeping a little distance.

Meredith hugged her and what it was supposed to be just a normal greeting lasted way longer. It was comfortable for both of them to feel each other that close, breathing on each other's neck and feeling their skin touching. Both women wished time would stop for them, just so they could be hugging forever.

When they parted, Meredith took Arizona's hand and guided her to where the party was happening and as soon as Bailey saw the blonde, he opened up a huge smile and ran to her.

"Awzona you came!" – Bailey shouted and the guests turned around to see who was.

"Happy Birthday, sweetie! I hope all of your wishes come true and that you continue to be this awesome little man! Here, take your present!" – Arizona said, hugging the little boy and handing him the big box wrapped in a cute gift paper, making him even more excited.

"Mom! Can I open aunt Arizona's present? It's huge!" – Bailey asked Meredith, who was thrilled to see her son that happy.

"Yes, you can, but take care of it, ok? Don't let it anywhere because it will get lost" – Meredith said, smiling to Arizona. – "You didn't have to bring a present, you know that, right? He would be happy just to see you in here" – Meredith said to the blonde.

"Well, I'm sure he will be thrilled with the present, wait and see" – Arizona said smiling, waiting for the boy to rip the wrapping paper.

"It's a magician set! Look, mom! I'm going to be a real magician now!" – Bailey was shouting and extremely excited about Arizona's gift.

"Oh, that's so cool, honey! Did you thank her already?" – Meredith said.

"Thank you Awzona, I love you" – he said hugging her and made her blush a little. She wasn't expecting this kind of declaration and especially not in front of Meredith.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Now go find your sisters to play with you, go do some tricks to them!" – Arizona said, kissing the boy on the cheek.

"You definitely beat up my present this year" – Meredith said, laughing.

"I'm sorry! I was going to buy him some Legos but this was way cooler, right?" – Arizona said, smiling.

Suddenly they didn't feel awkward anymore. They were laughing and talking and everything seemed so right. Arizona was happy to be there, and Meredith too.

Amelia appeared and greeted Arizona with a tight hug. She felt some relief seeing her sister and the blonde having a good conversation.

Meredith offered Arizona some white wine and they kept talking for a little longer about Bailey and the kids. Arizona always feels happy and sad at the same time talking about kids, because she missed Sofia.

"When Sofia was at Bailey's age, or maybe a year younger, she was nuts about trucks. I don't even know how that started, but Callie and I bought her some cute little car and she hated it. She only liked trucks. And then, a year later, she hated them all. She was all in for the dolls" – Arizona was telling Meredith about some of Sofia's stories.

"Zola is in that "I'm a big girl now for toys" phase. She hates pretty much everything she has. She's growing up so fast it scares me" – Meredith confessed.

"Yeah, tell me about it. The other night Sofia told me about boys and I was like "you're only eight, how the hell you're telling me about boys?" I can't even begin to express how much I'm scared!" – Arizona confessed it too.

"You must miss her so much" – Meredith asked and squeezed Arizona's hand.

"I do, indeed. So much more than I thought it was possible!" - Arizona said with a sad tone in her voice, making Meredith look at her with compassionate eyes.

"When are you going to see her now?" – Meredith asked and didn't let go Arizona's hand.

"Two weeks, she's coming here with my parents. I can't wait to squeeze that little face of hers" – Arizona said, smiling.

The party was at its half already and Arizona didn't feel time passing by so fast. She went inside the house to pour her some more wine and saw Meredith drinking alone in the kitchen.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I was looking for the wine but I can come back later" – Arizona felt embarrassed to interrupt Meredith's privacy.

"No, please, come here. Here's the wine" - Meredith handed her the bottle.

"Is everything ok?" – Arizona asked, a little concerned.

"Yeah, I just needed to hide for a moment" – Meredith said.

"What are you hiding from?" – Arizona asked, looking into Meredith's eyes. She missed those eyes so much.

"Uhm, well, you actually" – Meredith said, laughing a little bit.

"Me? Why? Was I bothering you earlier?" – Arizona asked, intrigued.

"Of course you weren't. It's just… hard. Staying beside you is hard for me, I miss you so much" – Meredith confessed, stepping closer to where Arizona was standing.

"It's hard for me too, but I'm glad we can be in the same place, we can talk. It's better than hating each other" – Arizona explained, feeling her heart skip a beat every time Meredith leaned forward.

"Do you miss me?" – Meredith asked, now just a few inches apart from Arizona's lips.

"Every day" – Arizona answered, breathing heavily.

They couldn't hold themselves any longer and kissed, passionately. They needed that kiss for so long, it was even hard to part it just to get some air. Every second, every tiny cell in their lips seemed to explode when in touch with the other. The heat in that kitchen was intense and they both knew that it would lead them to the bedroom if they didn't control themselves right away.

Arizona got herself together and stopped the kiss for a moment, and sighed before she started to talk.

"We can't do this in here, in Bailey's party. You should go back there, I should go back there…" – Arizona was trying to make some sense but was still dizzy from the amazing kiss.

"You're right. We should go back there. But I don't want to stop kissing you. And I don't want us to pretend that this didn't happen" – Meredith said and place a quick kiss on Arizona's lips again.

"We won't. We'll talk about this after the party, ok?" – Arizona suggested and they went back to backyard since it was almost time for the cake.


	23. Chapter 23

Bailey was highly entertained with the magician and his friends, and it was quite a challenge to convince him that he needed to have a little break from the magic to cut the cake.

During the whole 'happy birthday' singing, Meredith was beside Bailey, but exchanging glances with Arizona, across the table. It was definitely a game-changing kiss.

When the party was almost over, Bailey was asleep on Amelia's arms, exhausted from the whole day of excitement. Zola was already ready for bed, but reading a book, while Meredith had Ellis with her, while was saying goodbye to the last guests.

Arizona realized that she needed to go since everybody left too. Maybe they should talk about everything the next day.

"Mer, I think I'm gonna go, you need to get the kids down to bed and I'm sure you're really tired. We can talk tomorrow" – Arizona said, gently.

"No, please. Bailey's already sleeping and Zola is in bed. I need 5 minutes to deal with Ellis and then I'm yours. Can you wait? Please?" – Meredith asked, trying to bounce Ellis a little bit, since she was cranky from tiredness.

"How about I deal with this little one while you set up Bailey and Zola, and then I can help you clean it all up?" – Arizona suggested, smiling.

"Well, I'm going to admit that you actually spoil me too much like that, and I will accept it" – Meredith said, smiling too, and handing Ellis to the blonde.

Arizona gently took the little girl to her room, singing a lullaby to calm her. She changed Ellis' clothes to comfortable pajamas and kept singing with the girl in her arms until she fell asleep. She put the girl in the crib and slowly closed the door. Meredith was cleaning up some things in the kitchen when Arizona arrived.

"She's sleeping, she's easy" – Arizona said.

"She was exhausted. Usually, she gives me a hard time" – Meredith said and pulled Arizona closer. – "You have no idea how much I've missed you"

"Me too. But we still need to figure it out. We can't go back to the same place we were, we can't hurt ourselves" – Arizona said after she kissed Meredith.

"I know. You're right. I need to put my mind in place and stop being so scared, but my life was never easy, I just keep waiting for the worst to come" – Meredith said, having Arizona hugging her tight.

"You know, before I leave my place this afternoon I received the weirder text, and I feel like I should maybe warn you?" – Arizona was unsure of how she was going to tell Meredith about Murphy's text.

"What text? Who sent it?" – Meredith seemed intrigued.

"Murphy. She said something about overhearing you and Maggie talking and figured that we broke up, and offered to talk if I needed to…" – Arizona said.

"What? When did she hear me? This girl will never learn to take care of her own life?" – Meredith sounded angry.

"Well, I'm as surprised as you, since I had no idea she even knew about us" – Arizona said, noticing that Meredith was angry.

"Arizona, that's exactly what I'm saying about outing us. There's nothing to do with you and me, it's just about people. I can't deal with people like Murphy talking about my life all the time, about things she wasn't even supposed to hear." – Meredith said, a little louder than before.

"And we're back in here again. Can't you see that no matter what we do, people will talk? You can't hide, Meredith" – Arizona said, firmly.

"I'm trying to be reasonable here but I can't stand the idea of needing to out my relationship and deal with everyone's opinion about it" – Meredith said, trying to justify herself.

"I don't think we can call this a relationship. That requires more than just some stolen kisses whenever we can hide. That's not a relationship. I don't want to do this" – Arizona said while picking up her coat and indicating she was about to leave.

"Don't leave! Don't do that, every time we disagree you just leave. Can't we try to find a solution together?" – Meredith asked.

"There's no solution. Meredith! You're not ready to assume me as your girlfriend and I'm not available to have a secret relationship, I'm not this person!" – Arizona shouted and Meredith shrugged.

"I'm ready to assume you as my girlfriend. I just disagree with the condition of needing to send a memo to the world. But it's too bad you can't see it any other way" – Meredith said and left Arizona alone, not trying to make her stay anymore.

Arizona left and couldn't help her tears when she entered her car. How something that felt so right could end so incredibly wrong and hurtful? She drove home feeling miserable and angry at the same time. She felt like drinking and finding any woman who might be available for some meaningless sex. She felt the urge to get Meredith out of her head for good. But deep down she just wanted to cry this hurt out of her heart.

Amelia knocked on Meredith's door a little while after Arizona left. She heard the argument between them and was worried that Meredith might be feeling down because of it.

"Hey, can I come in?" – Amelia asked and Meredith nodded yes. – "What happened? Sorry, I couldn't help but hear, you two were a little loud"

"The same thing happened. I'm feeling absorbed by that. I think I'm giving up" – Meredith said and Amelia could tell she was really sad.

"Oh, Mer. I'm so sorry. Do you really feel like it's the best for you two, giving up?" – Amelia asked.

"I really don't know anymore. I'm just tired." – Meredith said, and a tear fell down from her eye.

"I just can't see you giving up. I know you like her. And I know she likes you too. You're not a quitter" – Amelia tried to cheer her up.

"I like her a lot more than I should. But after Derek, I can't put anyone above my needs again. And I can't explain it differently, I just don't feel ready to be in a relationship with that kind of pressure on" – Meredith confessed.

"You know, I used to think that, after Ryan, I would be different. Maybe less in love, maybe just more rational. I never thought I was going to give myself away to a feeling like I had with him. But in the end, that was bullshit, a big one. We can't control this. I really think none of that would be putting a relationship above your needs. I think you're just scared. And you have every right to be, but I also think Arizona can take your fear away if you let her" – Amelia said, while had her arm around Meredith.


	24. Chapter 24

The next morning was a big day off for the whole family. Maggie had a surgery scheduled but her patient didn't make through the night so she cleared her schedule to spend the Sunday with her sisters, nieces, and nephew.

Bailey was still highly excited about his presents, especially Arizona's. Amelia and Zola were watching a movie while Maggie was playing with little Ellis, who was squealing with the peek-a-boo games with her aunt.

Meanwhile, Meredith was sitting on the couch just watching the day goes by and her sisters taking care of her children. She was too upset and wasn't the best company for the kids. Amelia was feeling sorry for her, she knew from experience how hurtful it is to run away from your feelings over some irrational fear. She wanted to give some better advice to Meredith or at least show her that things would be all right if she just let go of her strings that still attaches her to Derek's memory.

Arizona had the day off but couldn't bear to stay at home, so she went to the hospital to help Alex in a complicated case on a 5-year-old boy, who had a brain tumor. Alex and Arizona couldn't operate his brain, but they surely were the best pediatricians in the state to evaluate if surgery would be the best way to proceed.

"Ok, Alex, fill me in" - Arizona ordered.

"Jeremy, 5 years old, medulloblastoma diagnosed when he was 3 and until now said inoperable. He's having double vision now and his balance is unsettled." - Alex filled her in with the boy's case.

"Did Shepherd take a look already?" - Arizona asked.

"She's off. Dr. Nelson said it can't be done. He recommended chemo and radiation" - Alex said, nonconformist.

"And just hope for the best? Damn, he's only five. Shepherd should take a look at him, Nelson is known for playing safe" - Arizona affirmed.

"Yea, but right now I'm worried because his mom said he didn't eat for days due to his nausea. He couldn't survive a surgery now even if Shepherd says it's possible" - Alex affirmed.

"Give him a higher dose of vitamins and intravenous food. He needs to recover. I'll call Amelia" - Arizona ordered and Alex agreed.

Arizona picked up her phone and dialed Amelia's number, and took a deep breath before press the call button.

Seeing Arizona's name on her cell phone screen made Amelia shrug. Was she calling to talk about Meredith? She couldn't risk having Meredith hearing that Arizona was calling her without knowing for sure what was that about, so she excused herself saying she had to use the toilet.

AS: _Robbins, hi!_

AR: _Hi, sorry to call you on your day off. Do you have a minute?_

AS: _Yea, go ahead._

AR: _So, I have a so-called inoperable tumor. I would really appreciate if you take a look at the case before I dismiss the patient._

AS: _What kind of tumor? Is the patient pregnant? And I thought you were also off today._

AR: _Medulloblastoma, and it's a little boy, 5 years old. I came in here to help Alex._

AS: _Uhm, working on the day off, right? I can see that everyone's miserable after all._

Amelia didn't want to lose the opportunity to bring the subject up, she felt compelled to try to fix the relationship between Arizona and Meredith. Arizona was confused by what Amelia said, she didn't know if it was about Meredith or not.

AR: _What do you mean by that?_

AS: _Well, I have a sister quiet and sad over here, and a workaholic friend that's trying to avoid the sadness over work._

AR: _I'm ok, Is Meredith ok?_

AS: _Well, if you consider listening to Tracy Chapman all day as being ok, then she's wonderful._

AR: _I really wish there was something I could do, but at this point, the best I can do for her is to stay away._

AS: _I don't really see how you two being miserable away from each other can do any better for anyone, but again, who am I to say? I just wish I could put some sense inside of your stubborn heads._

AR: _Will you help me with the case or not?_

AS: _Yeah, sure. Do you need me now? Tomorrow morning? Over the phone?_

AR: _He's really weak to have a surgery right now, so I think there's no much you can do today, but I can e-mail you the scans and you can take a look now and let me know what you think, is that ok?_

AS: _Perfect, email me then. I'll call you later._

AR: _Great, thanks, Amelia!_

AS: _Yeah, anytime._

When Amelia left the bathroom, Meredith was waiting for her in the hall and scared her.

"Jesus! Are you stalking me while I pee?" - Amelia quipped.

"Were you talking to Arizona?" - Meredith asked and her voice was trembling.

"Yes, but she called me about a case. I didn't want to take the call in front of you because I know that even those little things can be hard" - Amelia explained.

"Is she ok?" - Meredith asked.

"As ok as you, sis" - Amelia said and kept staring at Meredith so she could understand that both women needed to fix this.


	25. Chapter 25

Meredith understood the message and went to her room to rest a little bit, while the kids were all taking a nap. She ended up falling asleep and was awaken by a text message. She was expecting it to be from Arizona but was surprised when she saw the name of the sender. _Will Thorpe._

The doctor with whom Meredith had her first date after Derek's death and ended up being a major disaster. He was kind then and understood her, but they stopped talking after a while. Meredith couldn't handle anything at that time, so she shut herself down to everyone. The text was friendly, although it was regarding a medical case.

 _Hey, there. How are you? Hope everything's fine. I would really appreciate if you could help me with an opinion on a case? It's personal, someone from my family, I don't want to tell people in here._

Of course, Meredith would help him, not only because he was a nice guy and was always gentle with her, but also because it was her job. Being a doctor is really her natural gift, so she could never turn her back to that.

She replied immediately.

 _Of course! Are you free tomorrow night? We can take a look on it. I hope you´re ok and it isn't anything serious. Let me know your schedule, good night._

He replied briefly too.

 _Tomorrow night's perfect. I'll meet you at Grey Sloan around 7 pm, is that ok? Thank you!_

On the next day, Arizona seemed pretty tired and not in a good mood. She and Callie had an argument over the phone in the morning regarding Sofia's break at school. The girl was supposed to go to Seattle with Arizona's parents, but Callie wanted to use a couple of days to take her to meet Penny's parents that will be in NY. Arizona was nothing but gracious all of this time, but she was missing her daughter so much that even a couple of days would make a giant difference, especially when Callie couldn't think before even suggest that. In the end, Callie apologized. She is usually impulsive like that and didn't think of how many days Arizona spends a year without Sofia. They'd agreed with the original plan and Arizona was relieved, yet angry.

She was waiting for the elevator at the hospital when she heard a delicious high-pitched voice shouting her name.

"Look, it's aunt Arizona!" - the voice came from Bailey, who was entering the hospital with Meredith and Ellis and ran towards her.

"Hey, sweetie, good morning!" - Arizona kneeled to hug him. She immediately felt nervous knowing that Meredith was right behind him, even though she avoided looking in her direction.

"I'm doing magic tricks every day!" - The boy exclaimed.

"You are?! Oh, that's good. Can you show me some?" - Arizona asked him, she knew the boy had a strong connection with her and she was actually flattered that he liked her so much.

"Ok, wait a minute. I'll get my cards in my backpack" - the boy said and asked Meredith for his backpack. Meredith mouthed "I'm sorry" to Arizona knowing that the boy wouldn't let her go so easily.

Arizona smiled shyly to Meredith in response to what she said. She just waited for the boy to pick up his cards and try to organize them in his tiny hands.

"Pick one card, but don't show me!" – He ordered.

"Ok. This one" – Arizona said and picked up the card, totally playing along with the boy, giving him a curious look so he could be even more confident about his trick.

"Now I'm going to guess what is your card!" – Bailey exclaimed.

"Oh, I doubt it! Can you do that?"- Arizona asked him playfully.

"It's a 4 of hearts!" – he shouted and people who were nearby them stopped to look at the little boy.

"Oh my God! You're right, it is a four of hearts!"- Arizona acted like she was amazed, even though she knew the cards had a little mark on their behinds, so he would know which one people would choose. She was thrilled to see how excited and proud the little boy was, believing he actually could do magic.

That sight of Arizona kneeled down smiling that gorgeous and intoxicating smile of hers, making her son feels like he was the smartest and powerful person in the world in that moment, that frame made Meredith sighs and admit to herself: she was in love with Arizona. That amazing sensation of being happy just to be standing a few meters away from her, seeing her smile brightening the room, her eyes, those light and incredibly deep blue eyes, twinkling every time Bailey squealed from happiness – she couldn't deny it anymore. She couldn't feel more complete right now, she wouldn't find another person – either man or woman – like Arizona. Not that caring, cheerful, supportive, loving person like she was. And that was more than enough, more than what Meredith could ever think she would find again.

She was tired to pretend this wasn't that important. She was aware that she couldn't, and wouldn't hide that anymore.

"Ok, sweetie, now mom really have to go and Arizona have to work too, so we need to go to daycare" – Meredith interrupted them and right at the same second she finished ordering him to go, her pager went off with a 911. – "Damn it, I need to go. Bailey, hurry up, please"

"Hey, go ahead, I can take him to day care, I'm in an easy morning, don't worry" – Arizona offered.

"Are you sure? I mean, he can be a handful" – Meredith said, worried about the 911 page.

"I can handle him just fine, go ahead, I'll make sure he's settled there" – Arizona said, smiling.

"Look, I need to go now, and I have two big surgeries, but I really, really need to talk to you. This time I won't do the same, I won't hide. I can't hide it anymore, but I want us to talk, can you meet me by the end of the day? Please? You can choose wherever you want to, just don't shut me down" – Meredith begged, making Arizona looked confused, she wasn't expect anything like that.

"Slow down, we can talk, of course, but let's do that when you're free, it's ok" – Arizona said, to comfort her.

"No, no more waiting. I need to do this tonight. I have a consult with a doctor from another hospital at 7 pm, meet me here, please" – Meredith said while kept walking away from the blonde and her son.

"Ok, mister Magician, let's go" – Arizona said, taking Bailey's hand and leading him to the daycare.


	26. Chapter 26

She kept thinking about what Meredith said all day. For her excitement, it sounded like a good thing. She affirmed she couldn't hide it anymore. Did she mean their relationship, or better said, their attempt to a relationship? Was she ready to assume Arizona? Anyway, she got tired of wondering all the possibilities; she just wanted this day to end so she could finally meet Meredith.

After her last surgery of the day, Meredith was exhausted. Thankfully, Maggie left earlier and took the kids home. Meredith changed into regular clothes and packed up her things to meet Thorpe and then, finally, Arizona. She was going to be serious this time, for real. She was going to ask her to be her girlfriend. No more hiding, no more fearing. She was in love, she needed to feel alive like that again.

When she arrived at the main entrance, Thorpe was already there waiting for her. He was still looking the same, like last year. He smiled when spotted Meredith and she smiled back. They hugged for a second.

"Hi, it's really nice to see you" – He said.

"Definitely. It's nice to see you too. So, how can I help you?" – Meredith asked.

"I got the scans and labs in my car, can we go there? I didn't want to enter here with all of these." – He suggested and Meredith nodded yes.

They went to the parking lot and he opened his car, so they both entered.

Looking at the scans, Meredith's look wasn't positive.

"I believe you know the diagnostic already" – She said, in a sad tone.

"I do. But she's my sister-in-law, so I wanted to have one last opinion before I accept it." – He said, looking sad.

"I'm so sorry. I really am. But there's nothing left to say in here, other than what you've probably heard already. It's a huge tumor and it's spreading" – Meredith said and put her hand on top of his, trying to comfort him while she confirmed the bad news.

Somehow he interpreted that differently and took that as a sign of reciprocity of his feelings for her.

At the same time, Arizona was leaving the hospital trying to check if Meredith's car was still in the parking lot.

 _Hey, can't find you anywhere in here. Already left? Let me know_

She just pressed the send button on her phone to spot the light inside of Thorpe's car and he kissing Meredith. That sight was equivalent to a knife inside her stomach, she felt sick.

How could she do that? How can she be so reckless about other people's feeling? Her eyes immediately had tears and she felt like she wouldn't be able to walk.

Inside of Thorpe's car, Meredith parted the kiss a few seconds later. She closed her eyes and continued with her hand on his.

"I'm sorry, Will. I-I… We can't do this. I can't do this. I'm with someone, now" – Meredith said and looked at him, feeling sorry.

"I'm sorry, I overstepped. I just… you know… you're quite something. I shouldn't have crossed the line, I'm sorry" – He apologized sincerely.

"That's ok, let's just forget about that." – Meredith said and then heard a car scratching tire and looked up to see that was Arizona's car. - "Damn it!" – she exclaimed, worried.

"What? What's wrong?" – Thorp sounded confused.

"I gotta go. I'm sorry, for everything. I hope your sister-in-law can be painless these next weeks" – Meredith said and left the car, picking up her phone and seeing Arizona's text.

 _Damn it! Damn it! I have to talk to her. –_ Meredith cursed, the minute she connected the kiss with Arizona leaving like that. She must have seen it.

Meredith tried to call Arizona, who didn't take the call. She was unbelievably mad and disappointed. If Meredith hadn't said all of those things in the morning, Arizona would be hurt, of course, but not mad. Not angry. Not feeling highly betrayed.

Meredith could only imagine how hurt Arizona must be by seeing that scene. A scene she never meant to happen, especially that night, when she was finally ready to abandon her fears and strings and feel free to live that love.

Meredith was crushed. She had to fix that, and she needed to do it fast. She jumped into her car and drove to Arizona's house. She needed to explain that the kiss meant nothing; she was caught off guard and didn't expect Thorpe to kiss her.

When she arrived, she knocked on the door and no one answered. She insisted, while called Arizona at the same time. She needed to talk to her; she wouldn't give up, not now.

Arizona kept rejecting Meredith's calls. There wasn't anything left to say, not only she wasn't ready for assuming their attempt to a relationship, but she also wasn't ready to be in a serious and committed one. Maybe she needed to explore all of her options and clearly, Arizona wouldn't be in this competition.

Hearing a knock on her door again, she went downstairs thinking it might be DeLuca without his keys again since he does that sometimes.

"My God, Andrew, you need to leave a spare key hidden somewhere in here..." - Arizona said while she was opening the door to find Meredith standing there and blocking the door before Arizona could close it.

"Let me explain it, please. Hear me out" - Meredith asked, firmly.

"Leave. I don't want to talk anymore; I don't want to deal with that anymore. I'm done" - Arizona said and immediately felt her eyes filling up with tears.

"I was helping him with a consult, he was the consult I told you about this morning. Somehow he read the signs wrong and thought there was a thing happening there, and it wasn't, I swear" - Meredith explained even though Arizona said she didn't want to talk.

"You don't owe me explanations. You're free to kiss whoever you damn want to. Just leave me, leave my house, forget that ever happened something between us" - Arizona said, now crying.

"I won't do that. I can't forget about you, about us. I'm telling you nothing happened, nothing is happening between him and me! He kissed me, I stopped it right away" - Meredith insisted and held Arizona's hand tight, she was crying too.

"I'm tired of your indecision, your love games. I'm done, Meredith. I can't be trapped in this forever. You fucking ruined that. You made me fall in love for you and then you go ahead and hurt me like that. Why?" - Arizona was sobbing and Meredith felt horrible.

"I never meant to hurt you, babe, I promise you. I'm so sorry, I want to fix that, tell me what I have to do" - Meredith begged.

"You know what's funny? Before Bailey's party, I went to a toy store to buy his present and the saleswoman was flirting with me. In the end, she handed me a piece of paper with her number and asked me out to drinks. And I felt so guilty, I felt really bad because of you. And we were apart, we had nothing and yet there I was, feeling guilty over some woman flirting with me because I fucking love you. And now I can't even remember what she was like, I've erased that from my mind because she didn't matter. You're all that matters and it's so pathetic that I'm in that position where I clearly don't mean anything like that for you. It hurts like hell" - Arizona confessed and had a hurt and sad look on her eyes.

"I love you, too. You're wrong about that. You mean so much to me, so much more than you can imagine, actually. And this morning, seeing you being that awesome with Bailey, as usual, I just realized that I love you, I want you to be part of my life, and I don't care about my fears, I don't care about people talking. It's worthy. You worth it. Please, forgive me. I love you." - Meredith said and they both were crying. Finally, things seemed clearer. They were both in love, they both confessed.

"Would you let me come in so we can talk this through?" - Meredith asked, and Arizona opened the door, allowing Meredith to come in.


	27. Chapter 27

The alarm went off harshly waking up Arizona from her dream. _Damn it!_

None of that happened, the blonde just dreamt about the morning where Meredith begged for them to talk, the kiss incident and Meredith showing up at her house and saying that she loves Arizona. _Just a fucking dream._

Arizona was devastated. It was hard enough remember that her relationship didn't even begin and it's already over, but the feeling, the sensation of things getting fixed and filling her heart with hope just vanished as soon as she opened her eyes. The mind was surely a tricky thing to understand.

The blonde picked up an outfit and headed to the hospital running a little bit late already. Meanwhile, Meredith was already working in a case with Owen and Webber, but she was so moody that both men were trying to finish the surgery in silence so nobody would kill each other in there.

When she left the OR, Bailey asked her to see a case that used to be hers, but right now she was drowning in so much paperwork that she could use a hand. The patient was Dimitri, a now 7-year-old boy, who has been coming and leaving the hospital since he was four. The boy has a rare condition in his kidneys and has lived most of his life connected to machines and receiving all kinds of medicines. He lost his right kidney last year and due to this condition, he needed a transplant from his own family and that shares the same DNA as his. Still a long shot, anyhow. His mother donated her own to the kid, but after four months his body started to reject it.

After many attempts to treatments and several opinions from the most recommended doctors in Seattle, the family decided to try the last option: an in vitro fertilization, as a genetic match to Dimitri. Of course, that wasn't a legal and formal recommendation, since a doctor couldn't suggest that as a treatment, but after many years seeing the battle this kid and his family were fighting, Bailey gave his mother a bunch of similar cases so the woman could get to the conclusion herself.

Now, just a month away from the birth, Dimitri had a new complication and his life is hanging by a threat.

Meredith introduced herself entering the boy's room on Peds ward, and he barely could open his eyes.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Grey, I'm the chief of general surgery, and while Dr. Bailey is held by some duties from the hospital, I'm going to be Dimitri's doctor" – Meredith said to the boy's mother.

"Hello, Dr. Grey. Nice to meet you. I believe Miranda already filled you in" – The woman said and Meredith noticed she was pale and seemed in pain.

"She did, I need to ask you a few questions, though. Are you feeling ok?" – Meredith asked her.

"Yes, yeah, don't worry about me, it's… it's just pregnancy" – The woman didn't want to be the focus right now.

"Well, pregnancy shouldn't be painful like this, how far are you?" – Meredith helped her sitting on the chair inside the room.

"36 weeks" – the woman was holding her belly now.

"Ok, I'll call our fetal doctor now, you need to get checked" – Meredith said and immediately realized she needed to page Arizona, and asked the nurse to do that.

A few minutes later, Arizona arrived at the boy's room, to find Meredith listening to the mother's chest and lungs.

"Oh, hi, I was paged" – Arizona said, surprised to see Meredith in there.

"She's in pain, 36 weeks, heavy breathing" – Meredith said, coldly.

"Hello, Mrs. Rosensky. I'm Dr. Robbins and I'm gonna check on you and this baby, ok? So, tell me, any bleeding?" – Arizona asked.

"No, just this weird pain, like a stitching sensation on my belly. I need this baby to be all right, I can't risk losing it" – The mother said and Arizona looked at Meredith confused.

"Well, how about right now we just worry about what may be causing this pain instead of thinking the worst? I'll get someone here to take you to a CT and we'll go from there, all right?" – Arizona tried to calm her and left the room, ordering the nurse to get the woman to get a CT.

Meredith left right behind Arizona to fill her in with the complex case.

"The boy, her son, is Bailey's patient from a long time. He has a kidney failure and his body rejects all of the transplants. His mother got a genetic match in vitro fertilization so when the baby's born and big enough, the boy will get one kidney. It's their last shot" – Meredith explained.

"Oh my God, that must be excruciating for her. How old is he? Did Alex see him yet?" – Arizona asked.

"No, Bailey didn't want him to be a Peds case solely. She wants to lead it, but right now she has some bureaucracy to solve" – Meredith said and kept being cold.

"Ok, well, I can help you after I check what's wrong with the mother. Do you want to get a coffee and we can talk about?" – Arizona suggested, still trying to recover that awesome feeling from her dream this morning.

"I think it's best if you check on the mother, I can handle the kid" – Meredith answered, in a rude way.

"Mer, this is work. Can we just work together without picking a fight?" – Arizona asked, trying to let their personal issues aside.

"Well, you tell me. Apparently, I'm always wrong, it's just your point of view that counts. So yeah, go on, maybe you'll find him a new treatment that I can't possibly think of" – Meredith said sarcastically and left Arizona alone, sighing.

Nothing like the dream. Absolutely nothing like that damn dream.


	28. Chapter 28

After DeLuca delivered the CT scans to Arizona, she couldn't help her sad look. The baby was in a serious distress and putting in risk the mother's life, with a big leak of amniotic fluid inside her abdomen. She knew how delicate would be to inform that, but it was a high risk going forward with the pregnancy. She had to deliver that baby today and still would be risky.

"Mrs. Rosensky? I have your CT scans back" – Arizona informed, while Meredith was checking on the boy who had really low vital signs due to the progressive failure of his kidney.

"Yes, what is it? Is my baby ok?" – the mother asked, worried.

"Mrs. Rosensky, your baby is in a serious distress right now. And that means that both lives are at risk right now, his and yours. Your amniotic fluid is leaking inside your abdomen and it's highly dangerous" – Arizona explained.

"No, please, can we do something else? I can't have the baby today, I need him to be fully developed to be able to donate his kidney to Dimitri" – the mother begged.

"I'm afraid we don't have anything else to do at this point. 36 weeks is not that dangerous for a baby to be born, I'm sure that with proper care he will fully develop as well" – Arizona explained, trying to convince her to accept the birth.

"I can't risk it! If he has any problem in his kidney I can't save Dimitri. Please, look at him, he's dying!" – the mother was desperate and both Meredith and Arizona were touched.

"Look, I'm also a pediatrician. I see several cases of sick kids and parents who think they're running out of options. But these kids are resilient, you know? He will fight hard for his life, as you need to do with yours and right now for this baby to be born because he's also gonna need you. So you need to be alive for both of your children, and trust that we will do everything we can to take care of them" – Arizona comforted the woman and Meredith couldn't help but to feel enchanted by how amazing the blonde was, every single time someone needed her.

The woman nodded yes and although she was sobbing, she held Arizona's hand as a sign of trust. Meredith gave Arizona a look that expressed kindness.

At the OR, Arizona held Mrs. Rosensky hand one more time and said that everything would be all right.

She performed a c-section and the baby was already deprived of oxygen without the amniotic liquid. The nurse quickly took him to a small table next to them and Arizona was making her miracle to keep the baby alive.

Since the mother had only an epidural, she was awake and asking why the baby wasn't crying. Soon enough her vitals started to drop quickly and she was fainting.

"She needs anesthesia and oxygen in 100%, we need to cut her open" – Arizona shouted, at the same moment the baby cried. – "DeLuca, take him to NICU and don't leave his side until he's no longer cyanotic. He's in danger of life right now"

DeLuca quickly took the baby to NICU while Arizona fought hard to fix the mother. Meredith entered the room holding a scrub mask in front of her face.

"I heard you saved the baby" – Meredith asked.

"He's in NICU. He was almost dead, he will have to fight harder to live" – Arizona said, without looking into Meredith's eyes.

"What about the mother?" – Meredith asked.

"I'm doing my best. Is Dimitri any better?" – Arizona asked.

"I took him to ICU an hour ago, he needs to be fully connected to a dialysis unit to survive now. His kidney won't take much longer" – Meredith explained. – "Do you need help in there?"

"I'm good, thanks" – Arizona answered, still not looking at Meredith, who left the room and realized it was almost time for her to meet Thorpe to help him with whatever diagnostic he needed.

If Arizona was there, at the hospital entrance, she could say that her dream from last night was becoming a reality. There he was, waiting for Meredith, opening up a big smile when he spotted her and they leaving the hospital towards his car in the parking lot.

The only difference, this time, is that when Thorpe leaned forward to kiss Meredith, she kissed him back. Maybe because she felt like she should, or maybe just to feel better about her fight with Arizona. Arizona was still in surgery and didn't see anything. He suggested for them to go to his place and it was right when it hit Meredith: she didn't want to do that. Not anymore. Not with him.

The way his lips touched hers was different. His lips weren't soft and shiny as Arizona's. His hands were bigger and heavier, pressed against her cheeks. It wasn't like the delicate and slightly chilly hand of Arizona. He didn't have that pair of dreamy eyes. He didn't look at her the way Arizona did. He didn't know that her neck was her weak point and that it took only a light touch of Arizona's nose for her to find out. Thorpe was a nice guy, caring and respectful, but he wasn't Arizona. He didn't taste like her, he didn't sound like her and surely he didn't look like her.

Meredith felt suffocated again.

The image of Arizona smiling to her and the feeling of their first kiss, all of that was playing in Meredith's head like a movie. She pulled Thorpe away, she couldn't bear being that close again with him.

"What? What's wrong?" – Thorpe asked her.

"I can't, Will. I'm sorry" – Meredith said.

"Still not ready? Did I do something wrong?" – Thorpe asked, confused.

"No, you didn't. I think you just showed me that I'm actually ready, but I'm in love with someone else and I was trying to hide." – Meredith was honest, even though she knew it would be hard for him to hear.


	29. Chapter 29

Meanwhile, Arizona had finished her surgery and Mrs. Rosensky was alive, but she would need to stay in observation for quite a while. Arizona was heading to the attending's lounge when Webber called her.

"Robbins!" – Webber shouted out her name, with a worried look on his face.

"Hi, Richard" – Arizona answered, smiling.

"Bailey needs us. Can you stay? We have a chaos coming." – Richard told her, making Arizona looked confused.

"Yeah, of course, what's happening?" – Arizona asked.

"This is top secret, ok? If the word gets spread around here it would be a total panic in the hospital" – Richard warned her.

"Of course. What's wrong? You're scaring me" – Arizona asked.

"A kid was kidnapped and during the police chase, he was shot. The kidnapper demanded medical assistance to the kid, if he dies, he won't receive the payment, or whatever is that he's asking for" – Richard explained, making Arizona looked horrified.

"Oh my God, Richard, that's horrible! Where are they now?" – Arizona asked.

"Arriving here in 10. The man refused the ambulance and demanded no police at the entrance. He will be present the whole time. I understand if you want to back off now, it won't be pleasant. Karev is in surgery and you're the best here, that's why I asked" – Richard explained.

"Can you be with me? I mean, I always feel safer when you're around" – Arizona asked, fearing the situation.

"I won't leave your side" – Richard affirmed.

"Do you know where the kid got shot at? And how old is he?" – Arizona asked, while she and Richard were putting on the yellow apron and gloves, heading to the hospital emergency entrance.

"He's 6 years old. And unfortunately that's all we know for now. Bailey is with the police getting them ready" – Richard explained and then they heard a car scratching tires.

"Hands in the air! Don't take a step forward before I said so!" – the man shouted and both Richard and Arizona put their hands on the air.

"We're clear, there are just us in here. Can we take a look at the boy?" – Richard asked.

"He's lying on the backseat" – the man pointed with his gun and they went to the car.

"Richard, get the gurney!" - Arizona shouted when she saw the boy covered in blood inside the car. – "Was he awake in any moment?" – Arizona asked the kidnapper.

"Why lady? Do you want him to tell the police what happened?" – The man kept pointing his gun to her head, clearly nervous.

"Consciousness is relevant for me to treat him, that's all, was he awake?" – Arizona asked again, now louder.

"He was most of the way here, he blacked out five minutes ago. Can you save him?" – the man shouted again.

"I will try" – Arizona and Richard put the kid on the gurney and started racing towards the hospital.

"Hey, hey! Stop it! Where are you going?" – the man screamed and pointed his gun to the doctors.

"We need to take him inside, he needs a surgery" – Richard explained.

"Can't you do it in here?" – the man asked.

"No, we can't. We need to get in. You can come with us, and see for yourself" – Arizona suggested.

The three of them entered the hospital, that already was in lockdown by Bailey's order. They went straight to a procedure room on the first floor and the kidnapper closed the glass doors.

Arizona and Webber started to do basic procedures on the kid, they needed to give him blood and oxygen and discover where he was bleeding on the inside.

When Webber came closer to the doors and touched them as he was going to open, the man shouted, angrily.

"Don't open it! If you touch it I will shoot you right now!"

"We need blood and equipment to prep this kid for surgery, we don't have this stuff inside this room" – Webber tried to explain.

"Well, I guess you'll have to work with what you have, if you leave this room, you will get back with the police" – the man said.

"I wouldn't be so stupid. I wouldn't risk my life and my colleague's, and the kid's, of course. I will get some blood units, some equipment and ask somebody to prep an OR for us to take him" – Webber tried to explain calmly.

"We won't leave this room. You will work in here!" – the man was high on adrenaline.

"Ok, ok! Calm down, please! We're here to save this kid, he lost a lot of blood, he won't survive if he doesn't receive more now. So how do you want to do it? If you need this kid alive, we need the blood, there is no other way" – Arizona explained, sounding confident, but her legs were shaking, she was terrified.

"Ok, so here's what you'll do, old man, you go there and get everything you need. All of it. Then you will leave the stuff at the door, and leave. You won't enter here anymore. And if a shadow follows you I'll shoot everyone. Am I clear?" – the man said while pointing the gun towards Webber direction.

"I can't leave her alone, she will need help" – Webber tried to bargain.

"She can handle it by herself, right honey?" – the man said and touched Arizona's face.

"That's ok Richard, just go, we don't have much time" – Arizona ordered while holding back her tears.


	30. Chapter 30

In the meantime, several police cars were surrounding the hospital and Meredith heard the sirens. That was something different than the usual; there were a lot of sirens.

"I'm sorry, Will, I need to get back, something's happening" – Meredith said and left Thorpe's car.

Once she got at the door, some of the police officers forbid her to get in.

"I work in here, I'm a doctor, what's going on?" – Meredith asked, nervous.

"A kidnapper has a shot kid as a hostage, the hospital is in lockdown" – the officer explained and then Meredith spotted Bailey.

"Bailey! Miranda! Please, let me in!" – Meredith shouted.

"She can come in, she's a doctor, clear her" – Bailey ordered.

"What happened?" – Meredith asked Bailey.

"Richard and Robbins are inside a procedure room with a six-year-old shot and his kidnapper pointing a gun to them" – Bailey said and Meredith immediately froze when she heard Arizona's name. – "Grey, I need to talk to the police, they will try to negotiate with the man"

Meredith was perplexed and shaking. She started to panic when she remembered all of the tragedies inside that hospital. The shooter that almost killed Derek, the rapist that set the hospital on fire. So many people died. She couldn't bear the thinking of Arizona being in such danger. A voice brought Meredith back to reality.

"Mer! Are you ok?" – Amelia asked her.

"We're in lockdown. We're in lockdown, Amelia" – Meredith was sounding panicked.

"I know, come with me, please, you need to sit" – Amelia suggested.

"Arizona is in there. Where are they? Why hasn't the police entered there yet? I need to help her, I need to make sure she's ok, Amelia. Is she?" – Meredith was nervous and babbling.

"I don't know, Mer. Nobody knows anything so far" – Amelia couldn't lie to her, she actually didn't know anything.

Back in the room, Arizona was struggling between making pressure on the boy's stomach that was bleeding hard and checking his pulse, which was weaker now.

"Ok, I really need to intubate him, now, he is stopping breathing" – Arizona said to the man.

"Do it. Do whatever you need to save this boy. I need him alive or I won't get my reward" – The man said.

"I can't do it alone, I only have two hands!" – Arizona shouted and the man gave her an angry look.

"Blondie, don't you scream at me anymore, got it? I don't like that." – The man said touching her chin with his gun. – "What do you need me to do? With one hand, I won't let go my gun"

"Ok, I need you to get the material, in the bottom cabinet. There is a kit labeled as intubation. And I need the smallest tube you can find, try on the left drawer. I need a 5.0 or 5.5, whichever you find first" – Arizona guided him.

"Ok, found it. Now what?" – The man asked.

"Now you get some gloves over here and put them on, you'll need to replace me in here while I intubate him" – Arizona explained.

"What do I need to do here?" – The man was sweating and a little nervous.

"Just pressure. All you need to do is make pressure on him so we can try to control the bleeding until I can operate on him" – Arizona explained.

She intubated the kid as faster as she could, and quickly his O2 levels increased a little bit.

Webber got back with a cart filled with medical supplies for Arizona to work on the kid. He followed the man's instructions and left the car in front of the glass door and left, with eyes that were saying 'I'm sorry' to Arizona.

The man got the cart and handed to Arizona.

"Now you save this damn kid!" – the man shouted.

Arizona started to do a central line on the boy to apply the blood and some medicines. She wanted to keep him as stable as possible and convince the man that they needed to go to an OR.

"Why are you taking so long? Is he going to wake up? I need to go, blondie, now!" – the man shouted again.

"I'm only one and you pointing out this gun to my face is not helping much" – Arizona said, irritated and the man lost his mind and hit Arizona's face with the butt of his gun, opening a cut on the blonde's head.

"Happier, now? Han? Don't play with me, doctor. I'm on the edge in here. I need to leave this damn place" – The man was so angry he almost couldn't hold back his tears.

"I'm trying. I'm really trying" – Arizona said, feeling her head aching heavily.

Arizona was getting worried by each second. The intern injuries were extremely severe and the boy had very little chance to survive with that restricted treatment.

"We need to get him to an OR. He's bleeding faster that the new blood is entering" – Arizona informed.

"He has his own respirator machine in here! What do you need on the fucking OR?" – the man asked.

"Everything. I need to cut him open, find the bleeding, remove the bullets, suture him. He needs surgery" – Arizona exclaimed.

"Why can't you open him in here?" – The man asked.

"I need an anesthesiologist. A sterile room. He could die in here!" – Arizona exclaimed again, nervous.

"Well, doc, he better lives, because if he dies, I'll kill you as well" – the man threatened her.

"I'm doing my best but it's not enough. Help me to help you!" – Arizona begged.

"Isn't the entire hospital sterile enough?" – The man asked, moving things around the room.

"It's clean enough, but it's a hospital, it's full of bacteria in the air. But ok. We'll try. You'll need to help me" – Arizona stated.

"Tell me what I have to do" – the man said.

"Take my badge over here and open this locked cabinet. You need to look for propofol, I have to sedate him before I cut him open" – Arizona ordered, while she was getting some more medicines and putting on him over his central line.

"How much do you need?" – the man asked.

"As much as you can find in there" – Arizona answered.


	31. Chapter 31

Meanwhile, Meredith was going after Bailey, who now was talking to Richard.

"I had to leave, Bailey. Robbins is the best doctor to save that kid. One of us had to get the equipment to do that. If the boy died, he would shoot us all anyway. Robbins is our best shot, but damn it! Where are the police in there? Why aren't they doing anything?" – Richard was nervous.

"They've tried before he got in here. He doesn't want money or any other thing. Just the boy, alive, so he can negotiate with his father. The man is arriving now. I'm really worried about Arizona. She shouldn't be alone in there!" – Bailey was hysterical.

"Do you think I had a choice, Miranda?" – Richard shouted and Meredith interrupted them.

"Let me go in there. Let me help her. She can't be alone with that man!" – Meredith said, crying, making both Richard and Bailey looked confused.

"Grey, do I look like I'm not aware of that? We're trying!" – Bailey said.

"Well, try harder!" – Meredith shouted.

"Meredith, calm down. We're gonna figure it out." - Richard didn't know exactly what to say to her.

"Can I go in there? Can I try?" – Meredith asked again.

"Are you nuts? Nobody is going to enter that room, except the police" – Bailey said and left when the boy's father arrived.

By the time Meredith recognized the man, she knew Arizona was in more danger than she had imagined. She needed to help her.

Back in the room, Arizona was starting the surgery, and when she picked up the scalpel and started the cut, the man shouted removing his surgical mask.

"Wow, wow! Stop it! Are you trying to kill him?" – the man asked.

"I'm trying to save him. He's not feeling the cut. Don't remove your mask, he doesn't need any more bacteria" – Arizona ordered and somehow she felt like she had the control in that room.

"God, I hate blood" – the man confessed.

Arizona was managing to suture the boy's hepatic artery that was bleeding insanely. With that small repair, he would have a little bit more time. While she was concentrating on the sutures, she decided to start a conversation with the man.

"Can I ask you something?" – Arizona asked him.

"You may ask, not sure if I'll answer you, though" – the man said, quite nervous from how much blood was in there.

"Why do you need him alive? You knew it would be a great risk coming here with the boy. Why didn't you just asked for the money before the chasing?" – Arizona asked and now she looked at the man.

"This kid is the son of a Senator. The one who signed the order to deport my wife and two sons back home. They died in the war five days after they arrived in there. But he doesn't even want to send their bodies for me to bury them. They're missing, now. Their bodies. What kind of father would let another one without burying their kids? This kid needs to be alive because that's the only way he'll agree to send their bodies to me. I'm a citizen. I have the right to bury my kids in this ground." – the man explained, with a sad tone in his voice, more than an angry one.

"I'm sorry" – Arizona said, sincerely.

"No, you're not. You think I'm just a lunatic and murderer and you don't feel any compassion for me whatsoever" – the man said.

"You're wrong. I do feel sorry for you and your family. I am a mother, I can't imagine what you're going through. But I also think this boy can't pay for his father's mistakes or for any reason, actually. He's just a kid. And that won't bring your family back, alive, to you" – Arizona tried to convince the man.

"Just keep working on him, ok? Shut up!" – the man shouted, angrily.

By this time, Meredith had escaped the security gathering everyone on the ER, and she went running down the halls trying to find which room they were in. She almost passed straight by them, but she stopped in time.

"Arizona!" – Meredith couldn't say anything else. She was paralyzed seeing her with blood on her forehead and with a gun pointed to her.

"Who is this? Who are you? Get the hell out of here or I'll shoot everyone!" – the man screamed.

"I'm a doctor. I can help you" – Meredith said.

"Meredith, please, don't do that. Just go. We're fine in here, he'll be out soon, I'm finishing the surgery" – Arizona begged. She was concerned by what that could do to the man and Meredith, but of course, she was afraid for her own life in there!

"They're here. The Senator and lots of police officers. They'll try to negotiate with you, you won't leave this hospital alive and you know that. I can help you escape" – Meredith said, again, looking directly at the man.

"I want them to come here and see the kid. I want my family!" – the man was losing his control and started to cry.

"Sir, whatever you want or need, I'm saying, they won't give it to you. The moment you step out of here by their conditions, you'll be arrested or even shot. You can run away, though. I can help you, but you need to leave right now" – Meredith insisted and Arizona was shaking.

"Are you done with this sewing?" – the man asked Arizona.

"Not yet… I'm…" – Arizona was interrupted by Meredith.

"No, you can't bring him. He'll die in five minutes, he can't walk, you can't run carrying him with you. I'm offering you a chance to be free and leave this hospital, this city, but it has to be now, and just you. No shooting, no kids. Do you want it, Sir?" – Meredith asked him, through the glass door.

"Why would you want to help me? I'm the bad guy in here. How can I trust you? The moment I step out of here you'll make a sign for the police to shoot me." – the man affirmed, looking into Meredith's eyes.

"If we're being honest in here, I'm doing that to save her. I'm in love with her and the thought of her being threatened by you is driving me crazy. So if saving her means saving you, I'm up for it. But we're losing time in here" – Meredith said, forgetting about the man and the gun pointed to her now. She only had eyes for Arizona.

Arizona was perplexed and surprised. She didn't know how to answer or even if she should answer anything. Was that the truth or just a move to get the man out of there? Meanwhile, the man was nervous, pacing inside the room with his hands on the head, mumbling something that nobody could understand.

"Sir, we need to go, now. If you want a second chance to live, this is it." – Meredith shouted.

"I want the boy. He has to come along!" – The man ordered.

"No, he won't leave like that. He's open and bleeding!" – Arizona said, angrily.

"No kids. That's our condition" – Meredith said.

"I thought you were willing to do anything to save your princess in here" – the man said.

"I'm not up to put a kid's life in even more danger. I'm offering you enough. Let's go, now!" – Meredith ordered.

The man started to cry even more and kneeled on the floor, feeling lost. Arizona encouraged him.

"If you don't know what to do, try to imagine what your wife and kids would be proud to see you doing. Take this second chance and be the father you are, be the man you can be" – Arizona said and she knew that this was very risky.

Meredith opened up the door and the man agreed to run away. Meredith put the yellow apron on him and a surgical cap, so he could go by without being recognized. She walked with him to the closest exit and ordered him what to do.

"The hospital is on lockdown, which means that no one gets in or out. So, you stay on that desk, looking at that chart over there, and I'll ask for the guard to help me. When he comes, you run. If by any chance you think he'll be back before you can leave, just hold and we'll try another exit, ok?" – Meredith said and the man nodded.

She, then, cut her hand with a scalpel she took before and spread the blood onto her belly.

"Help! Please, help! Over here!" – Meredith screamed and the officer ran towards her immediately. She could see the man leaving the hospital and running away.

"What happened, miss?" – The officer asked.

"I have a cut, but there's another doctor down this hall with the kid hostage. The man ran away. I need help to see if they're ok!" – Meredith said and they both ran to the room.

Arizona was still suturing the boy and crying at the same time.

"Doctor, are you ok? Are you hurt? Where's the man?" – The officer asked and Meredith ran directly to her, checking for any more injuries besides her forehead.

"He-He.. ran away, I think" – Arizona was confused by how they were going to tell that story.

"Have you seen where he went?" The officer asked and immediately called for help on the radio.

"The roof, I said to him to use the roof" – Meredith said.

"Were you in here? Why did you let him run away?" – The officer seemed pissed.

"He hurt her and he was about to shoot everyone. I said he could escape through the roof. He can't, though. Unless he jumps" – Meredith said and the officer ran to the roof.

"Are you crazy? What do you have in mind, Meredith? You could be dead right now, we all could be dead!" – Arizona shouted without stopping the surgery.

"He's out, we're safe. I'm sorry. About everything" – Meredith was saying and Bailey entered the room, gasping and nervous.

"What happened? What are you doing in here Grey?" – Bailey asked.

"He was going to shoot Arizona and the kid. I told him to escape through the roof" – Meredith said and Bailey started to scream. She wasn't listening; she couldn't stop looking at Arizona.

"Robbins! Robbins! Let go, we're taking him now" – Alex said, noticing that Arizona was in shock.

"No, I'll do it. I'll do the surgery, just help me take him to the OR" – Arizona insisted and they left.

Meredith spent a couple of hours with the police explaining what happened. The OR where Arizona, Alex, and Richard were, was surrounded by the police and everyone else, besides patients on the ICU, left the building. The police were looking for the man, believing he never left the hospital. Meredith couldn't say the whole story, so she agreed to leave and wait outside. Amelia and Maggie spotted their sister and ran towards her.

"What have you done, you crazy stupid moron? What if he had shot you? You have three kids!" – Amelia was screaming and Maggie had to hold her.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I wouldn't forgive myself if something had happened to Arizona. I needed to try" – Meredith said with tears in her eyes.


	32. Chapter 32

Arizona managed to save the boy, although he was in a critical condition. After she finished, she went straight to the NICU to check on the Rosensky baby. She needed to feel safe and get her mind over that. The police officers were trying to talk to her but she wasn't responding.

"Give her a few minutes, please. She just went through a lot" – Bailey ordered.

"This baby was just born and soon enough her mom would donate his kidney to her other son. What kind of world do we live in, that mother has to choose which kid to sacrifice?" – Arizona asked, almost talking to herself.

"We don't live in a fair world, Robbins. What you did in there was heroic. You saved the kid. Under those horrible circumstances, you saved him" – Bailey said and since Arizona didn't answer anything, she continued – "So, it seems that Grey's in love with you enough to do some craziness like that"

"She just tried to help, it wasn't her fault he escaped" – Arizona answered.

"I don't care about he escaping, right now I care about you, the boy and that lunatic that thinks she's the wonder woman" – Bailey said, angrily but happy they were all fine. – "Is she the only one?" – she asked.

"The only one what?" – Arizona was lost.

"The only one in love" – Bailey asked, smiling.

"No, she's not" – Arizona said and a tear fell down from her eye.

"Well, I would offer to suture your forehead, but I believe Grey wants to do that. Let's go, Robbins. Let's find her" – Bailey said and they both left the NICU.

Bailey ordered that Meredith could be back inside to suture Arizona. They went to a bed at the ER and they both stayed in silence for a while.

"You're gonna need about five or six stitches" – Meredith broke the ice.

"Are you in love with me?" – Arizona asked, and Meredith looked at her scared, she wasn't expecting that question.

"I am. I am in love with you and I am sorry for taking so long to realize that" – Meredith said, putting the needle down on the small table and looking into Arizona's eyes.

"Are you ready to live this love?" – Arizona asked, smiling.

"I am if you still want me" – Meredith answered, smiling too.

Bailey gave both Arizona and Meredith a week off so they could recover from the incident. On the hurry and craziness of the situation, she forgot to warn them that she had called Callie before she discovers about Arizona and Meredith being a couple. She was afraid something might happen and Sofia wouldn't see her mother. Callie was freaked out and managed to get on the first flight available.

Meredith insisted that Arizona goes to her place. She wanted to take care of her, as much as she could. The idea of sleeping alone wasn't so pleasant to Arizona, so she agreed.

When they both arrived, Maggie and Amelia had already fed and bathed the kids, they were sleeping safely in their rooms. Maggie was already asleep too, but Amelia was in the living room waiting for them to come home.

"Hey, finally you're home. How are you?" – Amelia asked them.

"We're fine, just tired" – Meredith asked.

Amelia hugged Arizona tight and whispered in her ear:

"I'm so glad you're alive and safe, and here" – she said and then, out so Meredith could hear – "But please, don't let this moron do anything like that again, she scared the hell out of me" – Amelia said, smiling, squeezing Meredith's hand, who was smiling too.

"I'll try my best. She scared me, too" - Arizona answered, a little distant, still dizzy from everything.

Amelia excused herself and went to her room. Meredith picked up Arizona's coat and hung it.

"Can I get you anything? Are you hungry?" – Meredith asked, worried.

"No, thanks. I actually want to call Sofia. I feel like I need to talk to her so I can go back being normal" – Arizona confessed.

"Yes, of course. I'll leave you alone, I'm going to prep the bed and pick up some clothes for you to change when you're done calling her, ok?" – Meredith said and kissed Arizona on the cheek.

The blonde sat on the couch and picked up her phone to dial Callie's number. She desperately needed to hear her daughter's voice and make sure the worst was over now. Callie's phone went straight to voicemail.

 _That's weird. Callie never turns off her phone._ – Arizona thought, and almost called Penny so she could reach Sofia, but she gave it a second thought and gave up. She headed upstairs and found Meredith crying in the bed.

"Hey, what happened? Are you ok?" – Arizona asked, worried about her.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry; you weren't supposed to see that. I'm the one who should be comforting you right now" – Meredith said, holding Arizona's hand and flashing a shy smile.

"What's wrong?" – Arizona insisted.

"It just hit me, now. The whole thing. I could've lost you today, I could've lost you and you wouldn't know how I feel. I'm so sorry for being an idiot for all of this time. You deserve so much better than this" – Meredith explained, staring at Arizona directly into her eyes.

"Well, it's a good thing you didn't lose me. I'm here. We're here. We need to start this over, we need a fresh start. Let's stop looking back, ok?" – Arizona said, while kept rubbing her arm on Meredith's back.

"How was with Sofia?" – Meredith asked.

"It went straight to voicemail. I couldn't reach Callie" – Arizona said, with a sad tone in her voice.

"I'm sorry. How about you change into these comfy clothes and resting a little bit with me in here and you can try to call her in an hour or so?" – Meredith suggested.

"It's a good idea. Thanks, Mer" – Arizona said and kissed Meredith on the lips.

They stayed up talking about random things and little by little Arizona was forgetting about the whole hostage incident. Talking to Meredith was so easy and natural that it was like time has stopped and there were only the two of them living on Earth. She missed that smile so much. Those bright eyes and that high pitched laugh that always made her smile.

"You know, you never said it back" – Meredith said, playfully.

"Say what back?" – Arizona asked, intrigued.

"I said I love you, but you didn't say it back. I'm not demanding anything, I'm just saying… I don't know for sure how do you feel about me" – Meredith said, blushing a little.

"We're definitely the worst couple in history!" – Arizona said, laughing.

"Why? That's rude!" – Meredith said, laughing too.

"Well, we've been in this back-and-forth relationship for a while and it required me being a hostage for you to say you love me and I didn't even say it back! We're horrible!" – Arizona joked.

"Is that a sign? That we aren't relationship material?" – Meredith quipped.

"I don't know, I don't trust signs, actually" – Arizona said and kissed Meredith – "And by the way: I love you, too, Meredith Grey"

"I'm glad you do. And I'm glad we'll have lots of chances to repeat that without hostages or dying kids around us" – Meredith quipped and started to kiss Arizona in a passionately way until a loud knock on the door interrupted them.

"Who is it? It's past midnight!" – Meredith complained and headed downstairs to check on it. For her surprise, she could see through the glass door that the person knocking on the door was Callie, along with Sofia.


	33. Chapter 33

"Callie, hi! What are you doing here?" – Meredith said, surprised.

"Is she here? Bailey said she might be in your place, there's no one in her house. Is she ok?" – Callie sounded desperate and Meredith was shocked. She wasn't expecting Callie in Seattle, especially not now, when they just figured it out things between them.

"She's upstairs, in my room" – Meredith said and Callie went upstairs like a hurricane with Sofia, leaving Meredith alone in there.

"Arizona?" – Callie shouted and Arizona shrugged hearing her ex-wife's voice.

"Callie? Is that you?" – Arizona said and Callie entered Meredith's bedroom with Sofia – "Oh my God, what are you doing here? Baby, Mommy missed you so much!" – She said, hugging Sofia tightly.

"Aunt Bailey called Mama and said you got hurt, I'm going to kiss it so you will be better, ok Mommy?" – Sofia said, kissing Arizona's bandage on the forehead.

"How are you? Oh, my God, I'm so relieved you're fine and alive. I was so freaking scared!" – Callie exclaimed, holding Arizona's hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know Bailey called you. I'm fine, now. It was scary but things turned out fine in the end" – Arizona explained.

"Why are you in here? Has DeLuca moved out from your place?" – Callie asked, intrigued.

"Hum, no, he still lives with me. He's probably out tonight" – Arizona answered, without explaining why she was at Meredith's house.

"Were you scared to be alone? I'm glad Meredith offered for you to stay in here. I'm so relieved to see you alive, you have no idea!" – Callie exclaimed and now Arizona was completely confused.

"Thanks, Callie. For coming and bringing Sofia. I think we might need to talk, but can we do that tomorrow? Right now I want to be with Sofia for a while, please" – Arizona asked and Callie nodded, letting go of her hand.

"Of course, I'll leave you two alone for a while, I'll go downstairs and talk to Meredith. Sofia slept through the whole flight, so she will be up for some time" – Callie said, smiling, and impulsively kissed Arizona's cheek and left the room.

Meredith was sitting on the couch, with a blank stare, thinking about Callie and her desperation over Arizona. She was probably imagining things, they have a daughter together, that's all. At least, she hoped.

"Can you explain it to me, please?" – Callie said, interrupting Meredith's thoughts.

"Explain what?" – Meredith answered, caught off guard.

"What happened? How did Arizona become a hostage and how she got hurt?" – Callie asked and she had a concerned look on her face.

"I thought Bailey had explained it to you" – Meredith said.

"She did, but when she said Arizona was in danger and that I should bring Sofia quickly, I stopped paying attention. All I could think of was about how she was" – Callie explained.

"Well, a man kidnapped a Senator's kid, he needed the boy to be alive so he could demand the bodies of his family that was killed overseas. Arizona was the one taking care of the kid and he escaped afterwards" – Meredith said, without telling that she was the one who helped him escape so Arizona could be saved.

"My God. Did the police caught him?" – Callie asked.

"No, he escaped. I think he wasn't a criminal for real, he was just desperate" – Meredith tried to justify.

"Well, I hope he burns in hell. You know, all of that made me think, Mer. I was so worried, I was sick to my stomach fearing that something worse could've happened to her. That turned me inside out" – Callie said.

"I can imagine, she's the mother of your child, too. That's a very strong bond to break, I understand your desperation. Did Penny flew with you?" – Meredith asked.

"No. She didn't. I don't think there's a Penny anymore" – Callie said, looking away, kind of distracted.

"What do you mean?" – Meredith was intrigued, and to be honest, quite worried.

"Mer, I think I still love Arizona. Not just as Sofia's mother. I think I'm still in love with her. All of this time we've been apart brought bittersweet memories to me. Penny and I, we're not working and all of the time I keep thinking how things were easy when Arizona and I were together. The thought of losing her made me wake up for good. I want her back, I need her back" – Callie confessed and Meredith's eyes were filled with tears immediately.

 _How do these things keep happening to me? Why do I need to take so long to realize how much I love and need someone, just for karma ruins me by waiting for me to admit it and immediately takes it away from me?_ \- Meredith was thinking and couldn't help her tears from falling down.

"What? What's wrong?" – Callie was confused.

"Uh, nothing, I need to get out, can you take care of her while I'm out, please?" – Meredith said, crying at the same time, making Callie nod yes, but extremely confused.

Callie slowly headed upstairs and could hear Sofia's giggles with Arizona and kept staring at them from the bedroom entrance, since the door was slightly open.

Amelia heard the giggles and thought somehow the kids had woken up and was scared when she saw Callie on the hall.

"Callie? What are you doing here?" – Amelia asked, surprised.

"I've arrived an hour ago with Sofia. Bailey called me, she told me what happened so I flew immediately" – Callie said smiling and Amelia had a bad feeling instantly. That wasn't a smile of a friend, especially of an ex-wife.

"Is Meredith in there?" – Amelia asked.

"No, she said she needed to go out, I was quite confused, she started crying while we were talking and suddenly she left the house. Is she ok?" – Callie asked, intrigued and Amelia sighed.

"Crap. Did she say where she was heading to?" – Amelia asked and her tone was a little bit louder, so Arizona heard.

"Amelia? Are you awake?" – Arizona called her from the bedroom.

"Yes, I am, I need to find Meredith." – Amelia answered and Sofia smiled to her – "Hey Sof, you look so grown up!"

"Hi, Aunt Amy!" – the girl greeted her with a huge grin.

"What do you mean find Meredith?" – Arizona was intrigued and worried.

"She left, she started crying and left, I don't know why" – Callie answered and Arizona sighed. She was figuring out the whole thing. – "What? What happened? Do you guys know what happened?"

"I think you two may need to talk, I'm going to look for her" – Amelia said and left the room, leaving Callie looking at Arizona confused.

"Ok, Sof, I think it's pretty late now, so why don't you try to get some sleep in here, while Mommy talks a little bit with Mama, ok? Can you do that for me?" – Arizona said, kissing the girl's head.

"Yes, Mommy, but are you going to be here when I wake up in the morning?" – Sofia asked.

"You bet I will, baby" – Arizona said and put her prosthetic on so she could leave the bedroom with Callie.

She turned off the lights and left the door semi-open so the room wouldn't get completely dark, Sofia still was a little afraid of the dark.

"I'm completely lost in here, what's going on?" – Callie asked when they sat on the couch.

"Callie, that was what I wanted to talk to you tomorrow. I know it might be confusing for you at the beginning but I would really appreciate it if you could be as gracious as I was when you started dating again" – Arizona said and Callie looked intrigued, not to mention a little mad.

"What are you saying?" – Callie asked.

"Meredith and I… we are dating. And she probably got scared by you showing up in here and all of the history past us" – Arizona said, firmly.

"Are you kidding me, right? Is that a joke?" – Callie was laughing.

"It's not a joke, Callie. I'm serious." – Arizona said, not amused by Callie's reaction.

"Arizona, Meredith's straight! She likes men. She's Meredith. What in hell are you doing?" – Callie was still laughing, nervously.

"Well, so were you before you found out you liked women, too. It just happened, Callie. We tried, and God only knows how hard we did, to make this go away, but we couldn't. So, we're together. That's why I'm here tonight" – Arizona said and Callie stood up, angry.

"My best friend is dating my ex-wife and none of them bothered to tell me, is that right? Am I the idiot who flew across the country to make sure you were alive? Are you freaking kidding me, Arizona?" – Callie was screaming and Maggie woke up.

"Callie, keep your voice down, we're in a house full of sleeping children, including our own. I didn't know you were flying out here and we didn't tell you before because we only admitted our feelings, for real, today. So it didn't cross my mind, in the middle of all of this mess, to call you and spread the news!" – Arizona answered, annoyed by Callie's behavior.

"How on earth did that happened? Is she playing you? Are you a playtime for her while she moves on? Or is the other way around? That doesn't make sense, Arizona, I left my life behind for you!" – Callie started to cry.

"What? What do you mean, Callie? Nobody's fooling around, this is consensual" – Arizona answered, intrigued. – "And how did you leave your life behind? I appreciate you coming in here, but your life's still in NY when you go back"

"No, it's not. I ended things with Penny because I realized that I still loved you when Bailey told me what happened; the slightest thought of you in danger made my stomach turned around and get sick. I came here because I needed to see with my own eyes that you were alive and safe and to confirm that I wasn't crazy. I wasn't! I really love you. I want you. I want to try again because you are the love of my life!" – Callie said and that was the exact same moment when Amelia and Meredith entered the house again.

Hearing those words from Callie was like a knife in the heart for Meredith. She couldn't compete with her; they have a child, a past, a marriage. All that Meredith had was a couple of fights and lots of runaways. If Arizona was smart enough, she would've pick Callie. She would've picked the best.


	34. Chapter 34

"Mer, wait!" – Amelia said when Meredith went straight upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom.

"Amelia, let her be. I'll go talk to her in a minute" – Arizona said, oddly calm.

"What are you going to say to her? Or me? Are we at least going to talk about that?" – Callie insisted.

"Callie, please, sit down" – Arizona asked and Callie sat beside her – "Of course we're going to talk about it"

"I know it's a lot for you to take in, and that you think you might be in some sort of new relationship and enjoying that, but come one, it's us. It has always been us!" – Callie said, holding Arizona hand, but she slowly pulled it away.

"Callie, it has been us, years ago. And we were wonderful together. We raised a home, a child, lots of memories. We made the most of our days and I will forever cherish that. But long before our divorce we weren't us anymore. I've changed. You've changed. We both been through a lot, in different ways, painfully for both of us. We did wrong to each other. And after so much pain and distress, we did it. We've moved on and we've grown. I have nothing but so much love and proud of what we've become after so many dark days we had in the past. And I know you, I think I know you probably better than anyone else and I know that you are impulsive and passionate about everything in your life. That's how I know that what you think it's love, regarding me, it's actually care. And I'm grateful for that, I truly am. But you're not in love with me, you're just panicked that maybe things with Penny didn't work out and you're scared that you'll have to admit it, after moving across the country and giving up so many things for it. It sucks, and it's painful and you don't want to admit it, and I understand you. But it's nothing to be ashamed of because you are this person, who lives the most of life always. You take risks, you fall in love, you cry and you cut yourself open to make sure the wound reminds you that you're only in pain because you're alive, and that's the most beautiful thing about you. You care, Callie. And that's why you're here because you care about me and you remember that you can count on me as much as I can count on you, and somehow all of these emotions get mixed and you confuse them as love. But it's not. Not that kind of love" – Arizona said and Callie was already crying.

"But you don't understand, Arizona…" – Callie was interrupted by Arizona.

"I do understand, Callie. I understand you're feeling lost because the person you love it's not right for you or at least it's not right for you right now. You have two ways of dealing with this, either you can try to work it out one more time with Penny or you can pack it up and start over. In New York or back in Seattle. You will always have a home in here, and friends and family to help you move on and get over this. But you're also strong enough to build your life again wherever you may feel like it's your home now. I can't be the person you want me to be right now because that would be nothing but a big frustration for both of us. You will find thousands of women or men willing to take a chance with you, to take major risks and get crazy around the world. I will support you, always. As I wish you could support me too, with Meredith. Because that woman, Callie, she stole my heart, you know? She showed me true colors that I haven't seen in so long. She keeps me warm in this crazy cold world. She makes me laugh, she's the whole package of a beautiful family that I never dreamt of having, but it's what I want the most, now. I wake up hearing those kids giggles every morning and that eases the ache in my heart for not being able to hear my daughter's. But immediately I remember that someone on the other side of the country is hearing her beautiful laugh and that it's you. And I'm glad our daughter has two passionate, understanding, caring and loving mothers and that she will always be the most loved girl in the world. So, what I'm trying to say is that I've moved on and it took me a long time to realize that we both deserve to be happy. And even if our happiness doesn't last forever, we will get up and try again. So go on, Callie, go find your happiness." – Arizona said and hugged a sobbing Callie.

Amelia couldn't stop hearing what Arizona was saying, it was so beautiful and sounded so honest, she was crying, too. Maggie decided to leave her bedroom and find out what was happening and found Amelia crying on the stairs, and soon she saw Arizona hugging Callie.

"Oh my God, what happened? Where's Meredith?" – Maggie asked, worried and confused.

"She's locked in the bathroom" – Amelia answered.

"Oh no. Did Arizona and Callie get back together? Oh my God, Mer must be devastated! Why we aren't there with her?" – Maggie asked, angry.

"They didn't get back together. Arizona just said the most beautiful things. She's gonna talk to Meredith" – Amelia explained without realizing Maggie was still pretty confused.

Arizona stood up and headed upstairs so she could talk to Meredith. She never felt so calm and confident in her life as she was feeling now. She knew better: she didn't have to choose Meredith, she just needed to choose love.

"Mer? Can you please open up so we can talk?" – Arizona knocked on the bathroom's door.

"I want to be alone, please!" – Meredith answered.

"You don't get to be alone. Not anymore. Can you open, please?" – Arizona insisted and a few seconds later Meredith unlocked the door without opening it.

Arizona opened and entered the bathroom, closing the door so Maggie and Amelia wouldn't be there watching.

"Let's cut this part where you apologize and feel pity, ok? I've been there, I know the drill" – Meredith said, drying her face, that was wet from crying.

"Well, I wasn't going to apologize" – Arizona said.

"Oh. You weren't?" – Meredith sounded intrigued.

"No. I wasn't. I won't apologize for loving you, there's no such thing like that" – Arizona said, firmly.

"So, you choose me?" – Meredith asked, still distant from Arizona.

"No" – Arizona answered, making Meredith frown.

"Well, you got me lost me in here" – Meredith said, looking deep into Arizona's blue eyes.

"I don't choose people like I'm in a restaurant looking at the menu, Mer. I am with you, my heart has been with you for a long time now and our damaged minds had to work themselves up to get us here, where we are. And I said it to Callie. The world is gonna keep spinning, and things will keep happening. People are going to appear in our lives, we're going to fight, to disagree, to become mad, but we're also going to create memories, and moments, and a life together. Who cares what will happen tomorrow? I had a good share of fear in my life, I don't need to feed them anymore. So, I didn't have to choose, because there's nothing to choose. I want you. I love you. You just have to accept that and live that love with me" – Arizona said and took a few steps towards Meredith.

"I love you so much, Arizona" – Meredith said and they kissed, passionately.

After a few minutes kissing each other, Meredith hugged Arizona tight, like she didn't want to let her go ever again. But she needed to ask.

"What we're going to do about Callie? Is she still downstairs?" – Meredith asked.

"I think she is. She can crash on the couch or she can go to my place. Sofia is asleep in your bed, I just want to lay down with you and hope that tomorrow things are going to be a little lighter on me" – Arizona quipped and they kissed again.

When they went downstairs, they found a note from Callie.

 _"_ _I needed to get some air. I'll come by tomorrow after lunch so we can decide what to do with Sofia for the next days. I'm happy you are fine. I really am."_

Arizona smiled and got more relaxed. She didn't want to fight Callie anymore, she wanted to be in peace and make things easier for Sofia, which was her only concern.

Meredith and Arizona slept cuddled in the same bed where Sofia was laying occupying most of it. The girl was tired from the plane trip and kept sleeping soundly even after the both women entered the room.


	35. Chapter 35

Meredith woke up first and kept staring at Arizona with passionate eyes. The feeling of butterflies in her stomach was stronger than ever. She couldn't believe how lucky she was, after all. She decided to start the breakfast prep, it would be a full house that morning.

Zola woke up and asked to help Meredith with the pancakes and they were having so much fun together. A few minutes later, Maggie was in the kitchen a little sleepy but couldn't be happier seeing her sister and niece having such a beautiful time together.

Amelia was the next one to arrive. As usual, her morning mood wasn't the best, but even cranky she couldn't help her melted heart by seeing the beautiful family she had.

"You're loud in the morning, do you know that?" – Amelia said, stealing a handful of cereal.

"Join us, Amelia. We're making breakfast!" – Meredith invited her and Maggie started to play with Ellis' hands poking Amelia's face.

Hearing all that laughter and children's giggles, Arizona woke up smiling. She could smell the fresh coffee and almost immediately she smells something burning.

"I bet Mer's making breakfast" – she thought out loud and started to kiss Sofia's cheek so she would wake up too.

"Good morning, Mommy" – Sofia said and melted Arizona's heart. How good was hearing her daughter's voice in the morning.

"Good morning, beautiful girl! Did you sleep well?" – Arizona asked.

"I did, and you?" – Sofia said, smiling.

"I slept very well with you by my side, honey. Now, how about we go downstairs and have some breakfast with aunt Mer?" – Arizona suggested and the girl yelled, happily.

When both of them arrived in the kitchen, Arizona couldn't help but smile at that sight. A huge mess and loud people trying to cook, but so much love and happiness. That was going to be her future: that family, those people, those voices, that burnt smell and, of course, that smile. Meredith's smile. The one she had as soon as she spotted Arizona on the kitchen entrance.

"Good morning, ladies" – Meredith said, smiling.

"Good morning, you. It seems that we're having a huge breakfast, right?" – Arizona said and turned to Sofia – "Sof, why don't you go with Zola and help aunt Maggie set the table?"

When both girls left the kitchen with Maggie, Arizona kissed Meredith.

"Now, that's a good morning" – Arizona said.

"Oh, I couldn't agree more" – Meredith said.

"Is Bailey still sleeping?" – Arizona asked.

"That boy is never ready to wake up, I'm giving up on his presence in the morning" – Meredith joked.

"Can I try to wake him? I'm missing his giggles around here" – Arizona asked.

"Of course you can. Thank you for being so caring" – Meredith said and kissed the blonde again.

Arizona opened Bailey's door quietly and the boy was sleeping heavily. She loved that boy, she had an outstanding connection with him, since the beginning. She sat in his bed and started stroking his blonde hair until the boy started to stir.

"Good morning, sweetie!" – Arizona said with a soft voice.

"Good morning, mom" – Bailey answered, half asleep still.

Hearing the word mom was a little scary. She blushed and was afraid that the boy would say that in front of Meredith and make her feel insecure again.

"It's me, Arizona, honey" – Arizona said, trying to wake him again, who was blinking heavily.

"I know, but you can be my mom, too." – The boy said and Arizona couldn't hold her smile. What a beautiful boy he was.

"How do you feel about we waking up and heading downstairs so we can have breakfast with the whole family? Even Sofia is here!" – Arizona said, taking away some hairs from his eyes.

"Is she? When did she arrive?" – Bailey asked.

"Last night, you were already sleeping" – Arizona answered.

"Is she staying with us?" – Bailey asked, now seeming fully awake.

"I think for a few days, yes. Why?" – Arizona answered.

"I like her staying here, that means you're staying, too" – he said and showed up a huge smile.

"I'm glad you want me here. But I want you down there with me, so can you keep me company?" – Arizona asked, tickling him a little bit, enough for him to giggle and melt her heart.

They went downstairs and the whole family was already eating and laughing at the table.

"Look who's here!" – Arizona said, holding Bailey's little hand.

"Oh, the sleepy prince is up!" – Amelia said and he ran to hug her.

Arizona sat on the place next to Meredith and held her hand under the table.

"Are you sure you're ready to live this craziness every day? That's pretty much my daily routine in this house" – Meredith said, smiling, staring into Arizona's eyes.

"I couldn't be happier to be part of this. I love you" – Arizona said and Meredith kissed on the cheek, squeezing her hand and whispering 'I love you, too' in her ear.


End file.
